Because Bending is a Burden
by JHLZ.NTL
Summary: Fire Lord Izumi comes to New Republic City for the first time in a long time with a warning.
1. Izumi's Warning

**The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.**

 **"In the era before the avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves." - Giant Lion Turtle S03E21**

* * *

It was summer. The Multi Cultural Center of New Republic City was hosting it's annual Summer Ball in four days where all of the social elites, business magnates, influential politicians all gathered for an evening to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the 100 year war. The entire city was in a festive mood. Crime had been at an all time low for over a month now so the police force was able to cut its numbers and hours without any effect on public safety. Civilians were hanging lanterns and decorations and flags from their nations of origin with some houses displaying flags from all four nations.

In the Sato Mansion, Korra and Asami were discussing designs for custom made formal robes for the event that would be recounted on newspapers all over the world the very next morning.

At the police station, Mako was busy scolding some subordinates for mishandling a minor robbery while the Chief of Police was packing up to head home early to train the airbender kids.

On Air Temple Mountain, Kai was pacing back and forth nervously, trying to muster up the courage to ask Tenzin to take Jinora to the Summer Ball.

At Narook's Seaweed Noodlery, Bolin was eating himself into oblivion while trying to muster up the courage to ask Tenzin and Beifong if he could take Opan to the Summer Ball.

* * *

The knock was quick anxious. Lin smirked as she sat on the couch reading the magazine, one bare foot planted firmly on the ground. She could feel the boy's heart beating outside his chest as he stood on the front porch, waiting. Ikki was taking a nap with her head in Lin's lap after a tough half-day of training and Jinora was sitting with her back leaning against the Chief of Police's arm while she was reading a book about the founding and history of the great city of Omashu. Meelo was sitting on the floor showing Rohan some of his favorite toys.

"Kai! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hiya Master Tenzin! Chief!" He nodded to Lin who looked up from her newspaper. "I was just wondering if I could take Jinora to the annual summer ball celebrating the end of the hundred year war," Kai said sheepishly, not maintaining eye contact with either adult.

Lin set down the newspaper on the table in front of her and folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, glancing over to Tenzin.

"Hm," Tenzin thought for a brief moment, leaning against the doorway of his home on Air Temple Mountain. "Jinora, would you like to go with Kai to the ball on Friday?" Tenzin asked.

"I-" Jinora glanced over at Lin. "Yes," she said becoming giggly with excitement.

"Very well, I trust you both will be on your best behavior, considering just how public this event is. With that said, there will be no kissing, no cactus juice for either of you, and no leaving the venue except for when we all leave to go home, together," Tenzin said to the excited boy.

"Yes! Thank you so much, Master Tenzin! I won't let you down! Jinora, I'll be back at seven?"

"Yes!" Jinora said excitedly. Kai jumped on an air scooter and rode back to the boy's dormitory yelling with joy.

"Ah! Young Love," Lin said smiling warmly after Tenzin closed the door. "Still asleep?" she looked down at Jinora and stroked the girl's back. Barely a few minutes passed when there was another knock on the door. "Bolin?" Tenzin seemed surprise.

"Hi Tenzin, Chief Beifong, I was wondering if Opal was around,"

"I believe she was giving Juicy a bath last time I saw her, I can go get her," Jinora said getting up.

"Oh I don't want to interrupt her if she is busy. I was wondering if I could ask... I am not really sure if you were the right people to go to for approval since Su is in Zaofu and..."

"What? You want to marry her or something?" Lin asked impatiently, accidentally waking Ikki.

"No, well.. I do, but not yet, that's not why I am here!... I just..." Bolin stuttered.

"Just spit it out already!" Lin yelled standing up.

"Could I take Opal to the Summer Ball?" Bolin asked, immediately covering his mouth with his hands in embarrassment.

"If Opal wants to go with the blubbering fool, I'm fine with it. Tenzin, you tell him the ground rules," Lin said turning around with a wave of her hand, taking Ikki's. "Come on, little one, let's get you to bed."

"But Rohan is the little one," Ikki said following sluggishly.

"He wasn't stuck training with me for four hours straight," Lin replied sternly.

Tenzin repeated what he told to Kai to Bolin. "Even though you guys are older, you still must maintain a good image in the eyes of the city. Opal is a member of the Air Nation and has a big responsibility to preserve our culture and values."

"Don't worry, Master Tenzin, I won't corrupt her! I'm good!... I think."

"I have complete trust in you. It's just Lin, she's been... well you know... helping out around here and... making changes." Tenzin said glancing down the hall where the girls' dormitories were on one side of the house with the boys' rooms on the other.

"Yeah," Bolin sighed before taking his leave.

After putting Ikki to bed early, Lin went into Tenzin's study to call her sister. "Will you be coming into town for the Summer Ball celebrating the end of the Hundred Year War?" Lin asked. "We'd love to host you here on Air Temple Mountain. It has been a while and I am sure Opal would like to see you!"

"Of course I will come to the celebration if you want me to be there. How are the Zaofu Guards doing?"

"Exceptionally well! We haven't had any more break-in attempts or explosions on the Temple. They're really good deterrent."

"I'm glad. Though I do believe love is better than hate, sometimes just a little fear is all that it takes. We will most likely arrive the morning of the ball. I am assuming you have to attend since you're Chief of Police right? You and Councilman Airhead?"

"Yes, we are both required to attend."

"Okay, well I am going to bring some stuff for you to try on. I will not allow you to attend a ball dressed like you're about to make a hundred arrests even though the new armor looks great."

"Fine! Do what you want! It's not like I've ever been able to stop you before!" Lin yelled throwing her hand up in surrender. "I'll see you on Friday."

"See you on Friday, Lin! I love you!"

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

On Friday morning, Lin oversaw the security preparations at the venue before returning to Air Temple Mountain to receive her sister at eleven. The City of Zaofu had recently received a brand new airship from Future Industries to transport their matriarch between her home and Ba Sing Se where she served as interim ruler until they could organize an information distribution system and hold elections for a new Earth Nation Council.

It was a happy reunion six months after the great battle that left Pema dead and Suyin in a coma. Suyin brought with her, her remaining four children. Wing and Wei were excited to be reunited with Opal, Huan was more or less the same, twiddling his fingers around a small piece of metal, tearing and bending it into a work of abstract art that he was planning to gift to his mother, and Baatar Jr. was still grieving over the loss of his Fiancee to the legal system over a year prior.

The adults were just about to head inside when a Zaofu Guard ran over from the gondola with a messenger hawk from the Fire Nation resting on his arm. "Chief Beifong! A letter for you!"

"It has the Royal Seal on it!" Jinora noticed immediately, grabbing onto Lin's left arm as she removed the letter from the bird's harness with her right.

"Thank you, Captain," Lin said with a light bow of the head as the guard bowed deeper and ran off.

"What does it say?" Meelo demanded with a childish impatience.

"Is something wrong?" Ikki asked.

"Not at all. It is wonderful news! Fire Lord Izumi will be coming to the celebration with us and then staying for a few days with Iroh and Ursa!" Lin said to the children.

"Yay!" Jinora and Meelo cheered.

"Ikki, what is wrong?"

"Now I am conflicted! Should I ask Huan or Iroh to the ball?" Ikki said tugging on the arm in which Lin held the letter.

Lin bent down to her level. "You can ask whichever one you like." She noticed Su fold her arms with anticipation without looking back. "Or," Lin continued leaning closer. "You could ask both of them." She said with a smirk.

Ikki seemed to like this idea. "I'll think about it!"

Only an hour later, the Royal Fire Nation Airship appeared on the horizon, heading straight for Air Temple Mountain. The Zaofu Guards got the rest of the Beifong Family's luggage off and then flew to a high-security air field owned by Future Industries. Everyone came outside and assembled to greet the Fire Lord. Tenzin stood at the front of the group with Lin and her family just behind his right shoulder and his children and the other air benders behind his left as the royal family of the Fire Nation walked down the gangway flanked by their royal guards.

"Master Tenzin, Chief Lin Beifong, Masters Kya and Suyin, and Commander Bumi," Fire Lord Izumi said addressing those at the front each of them bowing at the sound of their names.

"Not Commander anymore! Left the United Forces a while ago to train to become an airbending master! Would you believe it? After harmonic convergence, I got to become an airbender!" Bumi said wildly flexing his muscles, not visible through the orange and red airbending robes. Tenzin rubbed the bridge of his nose and Lin closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Forgive me, Bumi. I was unaware of this change. Congratulations on your new ability," Izumi said with unwavering composure.

"It is an honor to welcome you to our home," Tenzin said bowing low as everyone followed.

"Thank you for hosting me," Izumi said bowing back followed by her children. "Now, enough formalities! It has been far too long, old friends!" She said opening her arms and walking over to embrace Suyin, Lin, Tenzin, Kya and Bumi.

"You all know each other?!" Opal asked clapping her hands together with glee.

"Don't you know? All old people know each other!" Izumi joked.

"Our parents saved the world together! How could we not know each other?" Kya asked.

"You don't usually come to Republic City to celebrate the end of the war. What is the occasion?" Lin asked.

Izumi's face became sad with anxiety. "Is there somewhere we could speak privately? Just us older folks?"

"Of course, we can use the library or the classroom and just send everybody out," Tenzin said leading the way.

"Run along children," Suyin said to her brood.

"Ikki, why don't you give Prince Iroh and Princess Ursa a tour of the mountain with your siblings?" Lin suggested.

"Can we come too? I mean we have had the tour before, but it would give us something to do," Wing asked throwing an arm around his brothers, Wei and Huan.

"Okay!" Ikki squealed skipping off.

* * *

"I am so sorry," Izumi began once Lin and Suyin caught up after sending the children away. "I hate to come under these circumstances."

"What circumstances?"

"Usually we host our own festivities at home in the Fire Nation celebrating the end of that useless war, but recently things have changed. I have come to warn you. It appears a new terrorist group has arisen in the Fire Nation. The members are incredibly elusive, so much that we have been unable to catch any of them. They seem to target prominent benders and non-benders alike but have also known to attack civilians."

"How do you know they are all part of one terrorist group and not several smaller gangs all with different aims?" Lin asked folding her arms and shifting her weight onto one leg.

"The scale of their attacks is beyond the capability of your standard gang. They can take and give people bending!" Izumi replied. Everyone held their breath in shock. "In the past year, over half of the formerly non-bending population have somehow spontaneously gained the ability to bend. In the past week, a dozen royal guards have woken up with their bending gone. They have breeched the Royal Palace and even got to my daughter, Ursa!"

"Oh no!"

"This is impossible! I thought only the Avatar could take away and return someone's bending completely!" Tenzin exclaimed. "Amon only temporarily took people's bending by blocking access to their element's chakra using bloodbending!"

"I thought so too, but apparently after Harmonic Convergence, some individuals woke up with bending more powerful than ever seen before. They're using their bending and spiritual energy to shape their society, putting serfs and farmers in power in their respective towns a distance away from the capital." Izumi informed everyone.

"Spirits! Maybe we shouldn't go to the ball tonight. It would be too easy to wipe us all out being in one place!" Tenzin suggested.

"That is the complete opposite of what I think should occur. I came here so we could all be there together. Apart, we are not so daunting, but together we are strong. I think it would be beneficial to arrive to the event together and stay together, not just for the night but for the weekend to show our strength and loyalty and how it can transcend borders and generations. I think it is essential that we make a statement to those lurking in the shadows. Our parents united water, earth, air and fire, and we must continue this work and show these terrorists that we cannot be defeated."

"Su, have you noticed anything like this in the earth kingdom?" Lin asked Suyin who had been splitting her time between Zaofu and Ba Sing Se trying to repair the mess that Kuvira and the MechMan had created in the last four years.

"No, I don't think, but so far, the only places I have been outside of Zaofu were Ba Sing Se and Omashu. Even with control of Kuvira's Maglev train, so many parts of the kingdom are inaccessible. I can send out an investigative force this evening." Suyin replied.

"It takes years of gathering and organizing census data to even notice the change. Like I said, they're elusive. I would almost advise against widespread investigation. Every time we get close to catching one of these terrorists, their organization gets wind and they all slip back into the shadows." Fire Lord Izumi warned Suyin.

"Thank you for telling us all of this," Lin said softly looking down at her feet thinking about just how low the crime rate was in Republic City. Maybe they are somehow involved. They must be occupied doing something. When leaders are imprisoned, new ones surface and continue the business.

"Tenzin, keep track of your airbenders. All of them. Any non-bender that has enough of a spiritual connection to the other world, can bend the energy within and take it from them." Izumi added.

"I will," Tenzin said.

"I think I am going back to work for a few hours. I need to look over one last thing," Lin said beginning to leave.

"Lin! The party is in a few hours!"

"I can wear my uniform. I am not leaving anything to chance if there are energy benders out there wreaking havoc!" Lin replied exiting quickly.

Izumi sighed and crouched down on the ground, holding herself with grief as Kya fell by her side with a comforting arm. "I just feel so sorry for Ursa. She was doing so well in training too, and had just begun to bend lightning."

* * *

The weather was beautiful as the next generation wandered along the mountain path. The slight cloud cover and elevation helped to keep the temperature of the Air Temple Mountain cool and pleasant. Ikki walked on top of the wall rather than on the path, working on her balance while Meelo rode around the group like a farmer herding goat-sheep. The Fire Prince and Princess followed Ikki closely, Iroh listening intently to everything she had to say while Ursa looked rather downcast. Wing and Wei followed behind them, juggling a handful of steel marbles, and smooth pebbles between each other. Jinora walked with Opal towards the back of the group, while Huan at a distance of about fifteen feet behind the group, ignoring Meelo's aggressive attempts to make them stick together.

 _I should have escaped this tour when I had the chance like Baatar Jr. did._ Huan thought as he bent another corner of the shredded piece of metal in his hand.

"And there is where the bison sleep and there is where we spar and there are the spinning airbending gates that we use to practice agility!- You can try it if you want! Even aunt LIN can do it and she's an earthbender!" Ikki rambled faster than most people could think.

"If Aunt Lin can do it, I am sure we can! I am willing to try it!" Wing said raising his hand.

"I bet I can still do it better than you!" Wei yelled.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Yes! Obviously!"

It was decided, the twins would try the turning gates. Jinora spun them with her airbending while Opal demonstrated how to weave through them.

"You have to BE THE LEAF!" Meelo yelled, still riding around on his air scooter.

"How are you feeling?" Iroh whispered to Ursa, placing a hand on her shoulder that she shrugged off.

"I'm fine!" she hissed. Jinora heard and looked over, but decided not to pry.

Wing positioned himself at the opening and ran towards the gates, intending to attack them head-on like the earth bender he was trained to be only to get beat up heavily inside before stumbling out the other end, immensely dizzy and somewhat upset.

"Here, let me demonstrate!" Ikki yelled as she, Opal, and Wing walked back to the other side where the group stood watching.

"It is like this!" Ikki said weaving through with even more fluidity and ease than Opal had.

Just as Wei was about to try, they heard a scream. Huan who had been standing away from the group, the entire time, looked up from his sculpture when he heard the scream and saw someone dragging Ikki away. He took off into the trees after them, running blindly, with his eyes squeezed shut, relying on seismic sense for the most accurate tracking. He could feel the heart and muscle of the attacker. He was an earth bender too!

"Huan! Ikki!" Opal yelled uselessly from the platform above. "Someone go tell Tenzin! Hurry!" Opal screamed.

"I'll go!" Jinora said breaking off into a sprint back towards the residential buildings.

"Don't go alone!" Iroh called following her. "We can't lose TWO airbender children!"

* * *

Huan slid down the mountain face and landed on an outcrop at the entrance of a rather large and dark cave. There weren't just one, but many rather shabby looking people appearing to be camping there. Three waterbenders, four firebenders, six earthbenders, and Ikki.

"Who are you?" a tall tattooed man with three piercings in one ear, a nose and lip ring, and a mostly shaved head asked appearing in the light before Huan. Huan closed his eyes and listened.

"He's one of the Earth Queen's kids. He's the dull one. He is no threat to us," a firebender in the cave said walking towards Ikki who was tied up and unconscious, propped up on her knees. The firebender placed his right thumb on Ikki's forehead and his left hand on the center of her chest.

"Just to make sure," the tattoed earthbender began to say, lifting his hands to Huan's forehead and chest. Huan ducked using earthbending to throw all twelve gang members into the walls and the ceilings of the caves first to knock them out, and then again to pin them until help came in case they woke.

"Ikki?" he called walking into the cave towards the limp form wearing airbender clothes. He picked her up and sent his signature vibration signal through the mountain that only his siblings would be able to interpret.

"He's this way!" Wing and Wei yelled simultaneously leading the way down the mountain face with Tenzin, Jinora, Kya, Izumi, Baatar Sr., four Fire Nation Royal guards, and four Zaofu Guards in tow.

"What happened?" Tenzin demanded taking Ikki from Huan's arms as the Zaofu Guards set about ensnaring the cave people in their cables.

"I was too late," Huan said in the same unchanging monotone voice that he always had.

Izumi put a hand on Ikki's forehead. "It is done," she said gravely. Tenzin fell to the ground, clutching his second child in his arms, sobbing.

"She's not dead," Huan said with a slightly puzzled expression.

"No, she is not. But they took her bending away." Izumi explained. All those present held their breath.

* * *

 **Hiya guys! This is a tangent from my other story, 'Not a Replacement' which is set after defeating the MechMan (the enemy after Kuvira). In the battle against the MechMan, Pema and several evacuees are killed and Suyin nearly killed after she and Lin tried to rescue them. After Suyin is healthy enough to leave the hospital and doesn't need her sister watching her, Tenzin asks Lin to help out with his children. Lin initially lacks confidence in her abilities and doesn't want to hurt them while they are grieving or for them to think that she is "replacing" Pema. But the airbender children fall in love with Lin very quickly and Tenzin begins to realize that he never fell out of love with her.**

 **They build a Republic City with the help of Zaofu and Republic City earth and metal benders and relocate the inhabitants of Air temple Island to a new Air Temple Mountain that is closer to the New Republic City (which is essentially the old city super imposed on a mountainside).**

* * *

 **I think that even though Huan uses his metal bending to make abstract sculptures, and didn't help try to disarm Kuvira's spirit cannon at all during Operation Beifong in the fourth book of LOK, I think that he is secretly a really powerful bender like his brothers and aunts, but just hides it. Also, the brief clip of Ikki dancing, holding Huan's hands at Varrik's wedding was just too cute!**

* * *

 **Please leave a review if you have time! All criticism is appreciated. :)  
**


	2. To The Party

**This chapter is kind of shit, but Tenzin gives a pretty important speech to the rich people of Republic City, Izumi accomplishes the goal of having the world leaders and children of the war heroes seen together, Lin overhears some critical information about the party responsible for the mass redistribution of people's bending.  
**

* * *

"No one is allowed to leave this ROOM until the party!" Tenzin bellowed once all of the children had gathered in the living room of the main house. Iroh, and Ursa sat on a small day bed both with solemn expressions on their faces. Wing and Wei were sitting on a couch, leaning against each other, both with tears in their eyes. Opal sat between Wing and Huan, not touching anybody. Jinora, Meelo, and Rohan sat on the floor. Kya, Bumi, and Baatar Sr. all had their own chairs, and Tenzin remained standing, anxiously waiting for Lin and Su to return from the Police Headquarters.

"Tenzin!" Lin nearly broke the door off its hinges as she walked right through it, not bothering to turn the handle. She ran straight into his arms, hugging him, much to everyone's surprise. "Where's Ikki?" She demanded.

"In her room with Izumi," Tenzin replied.

"Has she woken?"

"No," Tenzin replied sadly. Lin swept past him and went straight to Ikki's room while Suyin went to check on Huan.

"My brave boy! You saved her!" Suyin exclaimed clutching Huan's chin, kissing his forehead while he remained seated on the couch, slouched over, not showing any sign of pride or affection.

"But I didn't save her. She still can't bend,"

"But she wasn't killed. She wasn't taken away. There is still hope. Korra is coming. She was able to restore Lin's bending. She should be able to restore Ikki's," Suyin reminded everyone, hugging her son.

* * *

Lin dropped to Ikki's side, opposite Izumi and took the child's small hand in hers.

"Aunt Lin?" Ikki woke with Lin's touch and crawled wearily into her arms. "I feel so- tired and- empty. Aunt Lin, I was so scared!" she cried. Lin bent the metal necklace and chest plate of her armor away, so that Ikki could lean against the soft fabric of Lin's dress underneath, and feel the warmth of her body. "They took my bending away, didn't they?"

"I am afraid so," Lin sighed squeezing the girl tightly. "I am so sorry!"

"Hey Ikki," a somewhat unfamiliar voice called. They turned to see Fire Princess Ursa standing in the doorway. "If it is any comfort, they took mine too. We will get through this. Be brave, little Air Baby." Ursa said placing a hand on Ikki's back.

* * *

"Where are they?!" Korra demanded, barging through the newly repaired door to the main house, like Lin, not bothering to turn the door handle. She and her friends all clamored in, already in their dress robes.

"In the back room," Tenzin replied quickly, stepping aside for the Avatar to go.

Upon seeing Korra, Lin removed Ikki from her lap and placed her on her knees at the avatar's feet. Korra placed a hand on Ikki's forehead and another on her chest. Her eyes glowed as she entered the Avatar State, but nothing happened. "It seems her connection to the air chakra has been severed completely. I can't get through."

"Thank you for trying, anyways, Avatar." Lin replied taking Ikki back in her arms.

"Are you all still coming to the ball tonight?" Korra asked.

"We have to. We must make a statement to the world." Izumi said standing up. "Come along, Ursa. We need to get you ready, and I want your hair to be perfect tonight."

"Give us some time alone," Lin said to Korra, holding Ikki's head in the space just under her chin, in the crook of her neck.

* * *

After helping Ikki into her formal robes, Jinora left her in Lin's room to go get herself ready.

After taking one glance at Lin's sparse closet, Suyin proceeded to unpack all of the gowns she brought from Zaofu. "The dresses are more or less the same, varying in the shade of green and black. It doesn't matter which you choose. All that matters is how you frame it." Suyin used metalbending to lift a gold colored metal bodice in front of her sister who chose dark green pants and a black dress. Suyin wrapped the gold around her sister's body and made a pulling motion, crushing her sister underneath.

"Ow! Was that really necessary? It is not like we are in our teens or twenties and trying to woo anybody!" Lin groaned fighting her sister's control over the metal bodice."

"I thought the sleeker lines would be more intimidating," Suyin said finally relinquishing control on the brass. Lin twisted her wrist, undoing the tension slightly, taking a breath. Suyin was wearing a long dark brown, almost black dress with a golden butten closing it at her waist, and a light green petticoat underneath. She bent brass onto her dress as well, outline her sculpted figure. She stamped the Beifong Flying Boar onto the button on her waist and the cuffs on her upper arms.

"What defenses will you have on you this evening?" Lin asked.

Suyin lifted her wide sleeves revealing an arsenal of a hundred metal strips stacked and attached to fabric wrapped on her arms. She lifted her flowing skirts showing even more on her legs. Then she unbuttoned her outermost layer revealing a cable wrapped around her waist and interwoven in the bodice of her gown. It was steel plated in gold.

Lin nodded and immediately called stacks of metal to her arms and legs and wrapped two cables around her arms and shoulders in the billowy sleeves since there was no room on her waist after Su put her in the corset-like brass frame. Finally finished, Lin turned to look at Ikki who was sitting in a chair, gazing out the window absentmindedly.

"Are you ready?" Lin asked gently crossing the room, kneeling beside the girl's chair with a hand on her leg.

"I don't want to go," Ikki said with dried tear tracks staining her smooth, young cheeks.

Lin sighed and looked to Suyin for help.

"Ikki please, will you come? We all have to go. Here, there will be no one to protect you. You won't have to talk to anybody. Nobody needs to know what happened this afternoon. You can sit by Huan. I am sure he won't bother you," Suyin said to the girl reassuring lly.

Ikki hesitated for a moment before standing up and taking Lin and Suyin's hands. "Okay."

The airbenders, Lin, and Su's family rode in the Zaofu airship, and Team Avatar, Kya, Bumi rode in the Fire Nation's Royal Airship to the venue in the highest ring of New Republic City. Jinora made her entrance with her arm linked with Kai. Ikki was linked with Huan, Opal with Bolin and Ursa with Wing. The rest of the children and team avatar entered as a group. At the tables, Wei ended up sitting beside his brother Baatar Jr. who was still brooding over the loss of his fiancée to the legal system.

"I can't believe Wing managed to get the PRINCESS of the fucking FIRE NATION to go with him!" Wei huffed.

At a pair of chairs along the wall on the far side of the room, Ikki sat with Huan, neither of them speaking to each other or anyone else.

"May I have everyone's attention?" the master of ceremony asked ringing a gong. Everyone fell silent and looked up. "Seventy-five years ago to date, Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple, Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Master Toph Beifong of Gaoling former Chief of Police of Republic City, Master Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Firelord Zuko, and Master Suki of Kyoshi Island ended the 100 Year War and led us into a long and prosperous era of peace and harmony in which the people of the four nations have been able to coexist peacefully all over the world in diverse cities like Republic City. Today we are honored to be joined by their children: Fire Lord Izumi daughter of Fire Lord Zuko and the Lady Mai, Bumi of the Air Nation, Master Kya of the Southern Water Tribe, Master Tenzin of the Air Nation and Councilman of Republic City, Master Lin Beifong, Chief of Police of Republic City, and Master Suyin Beifong, Interim Premier of the Earth Kingdom."

"Thank you, Mr. Peng. Before we resume our festivities, I would like to share a few words with all of you. We are gathered here this evening to celebrate the accomplishments of our parents and their ability to end a century-long war ushering in an era of piece and prosperity for all. Though recent years have been fraught with global conflicts on a never-before-seen scale, they have all been dealt with swiftly. One leader, one nation alone is weak, but together we are strong and can protect each other from those who seek to disturb this peace. I would like to remind everyone that all life is sacred and that there is no stronger force than love and friendship, thank you," Tenzin said. Everyone clapped and clanked their glasses together.

"A toast! To the war heroes' legacy!" someone yelled.

"Here here!" Everyone cheered raising their glasses, drinking to children of the war heros of old.

"I'm surprised you didn't join them up there, for that little speech since you are technically Aang reincarnated." Bolin commented.

"Nah. I am supposed to already be neutral and moderate any disagreements they have, but they are the real powers that drive this world and make the day-to-day decisions. I see why it was important that they stand together tonight, even if only for a moment," Korra replied.

* * *

Across the room, a young teenage boy in fire nation robes approached twelve-year-old Ikki. "Hi, you're Ikki right? My name is Houjin. I was wondering if you would like to dance!" Ikki looked up from where she sat at the empty table with her back to Huan while he twisted a small piece of metal in his hand.

"No thanks, I am not feeling well this evening," Ikki replied looking back down at her hands.

"Are you sure?" the boy asked with a smirk. "I can teach you some pretty wicked dance moves straight from the courts of the Fire Nation Capital! It will be fun!"

"Hey kid, back off. She is on her period!" Huan snapped at the boy, bumping him on the arm with the small piece of metal.

Houjin took one look at Huan and then glanced back at Ikki before taking a few steps back.

"Oh, OH! I am so sorry! I'll just go! Forgive me!" the boy said breaking off into a run. Ikki just turned to Huan curiously. Grateful, but curious.

"What is a period?" she asked him.

Huan just groaned and hit his own face with his palm. "Ask you moth-Aunt Lin. Just ask Aunt Lin later if you really want to know." he said not wanting to get into a discussion about such an intimate girl subject.

* * *

Near the concession table, Lin and Tenzin stood side by side, Lin trying to avoid engaging in any sort of conversation with Tenzin focused solely on keeping an eye on her.

"Chief Beifong! You look absolutely stunning tonight!" The city councilman from the water tribes said approaching the pair.

"Thank you councilman Ranok. You don't look too shabby yourself," Lin replied in an attempt to be polite. Tenzin put an arm across her back and grabbed her arm, rather possessively which didn't go unnoticed by the other councilman who raised an eyebrow in intrigue and smiled.

"Tenzin," He said turning his attention to the airbending master. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your speech tonight. It was very, inspiring!" Councilman Ranok said. "I also wanted to congratulate you on your lady," he said bravely eyeing Lin.

"She's just a friend!" Tenzin replied defensively. Lin turned to him and frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I hear our Chief of Police has been spending a LOT of time on Air Temple Island."

"I am helping to protect the kids, no more." Lin replied.

"From what, may I ask? Crime is at an all time low! Clearly you must care about them, and their father, greatly,"

"Say another word regarding the either of us and I'll smother you in dirt!" Lin growled balling her hands into fists.

"Very well. How on earth did you get Firelord Izumi to come this year to our celebration?" Ranok asked placing his hands on his hips.

"She came on her own accord," Lin replied sourly.

"Any particular reason?"

"She missed us greatly. We haven't gone on an extended family vacation to Ember Island in over a decade," Tenzin answered with a smile.

"Over a decade? So when you broke up with this sweet lady Beifong here," Ranok said glancing down at the hand Tenzin had on Lin's arm.

"That's it!" Lin growled stomping her foot sinking him. Suyin noticed the change in composition in the earth beneath her and stomped her foot to shoot the councilman out of the ground, sputtering dust and dirt from his nose and lungs.

"Lin, calm down now, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Remember, this night is about strength in unity," Suyin said from a table where she was conversing with Baatar, Varrik and Zhu Li.

"Right," She turned to Ranok. "We all got busy, nothing more!" She said leaning close to his face before passing him to go get a drink.

"Of course!" Ranok said laughing through his labored coughs.

"Why aren't we telling anybody about the energy benders in the Fire Nation?" Lin whispered to Tenzin.

"Because Izumi doesn't want any more rumors to get out overseas. She doesn't want the organization to know we know anything. It would give them more time to prepare greater defenses to use against us." Tenzin replied.

"That makes sense," Lin replied. They each got a glass of bubbling cactus juice and meandered through the crowds eventually coming to a table where Bumi sat surrounded by a hoard of well-dressed ladies.

"— and then the leopard-seal nearly tore off my entire head! Fortunately I managed to escape with only some minor hair loss!" he told a them enthusiastically while they all huddled around him watching with sheer admiration.

Lin grimaced and shivered. "I can't believe anyone believes his ridiculous stories!"

"Don't let him bother you, I would be more concerned with Buttercup Raiko approaching you," Tenzin whispered in her ear.

"Run away!" Lin turned pretending not to notice.

"Chief Beifong! I have been meaning to compliment you on your dress robes this evening! Where on earth did you have it made? The metalwork on the bodice is absolutely exquisite!" Buttercup exclaimed grasping Lin's hands much to her dismay. She could hear Bumi laughing at her and Tenzin feeling sorry for her.

"My sister made it. She is the artistic one." Lin replied curtly.

"She does impressive work. I will have to ask her to make something for me some day,"

"Good luck. She has been quite busy cleaning up the Earth Kingdom lately,"

"I am sure! Well, please mass my compliments onto her."

"You can tell her yourself, she is sitting right there," Lin said pointing at a nearby table where her sister was now engaged with some former pro-benders.

"Of course!" Buttercup Raiko's eyes narrowed more than usual when she smiled this time. "I hope you have an enjoyable evening."

"And yourself." Lin nodded and watched Buttercup Raiko go. "I don't like the way she smiled."

"You can't be suspicious of everybody, Lin. Remember? Everyone is innocent until proven guilty."

"Really? For me it has always been the opposite. Every suspect is guilty until proven innocent. If if a suspect had all the freedoms of the innocent, we'd all be dead by now."

Tenzin sighed and followed after her.

* * *

The bands played music from all four nations with performers leading groups of attendees in traditional dances from various cultures. Bolin and Opal participated in almost every dance. Jinora and Kai in almost as many. The two couples seemed so happy as they floated across the dance floor. The next song to come on was a tango from the Fire Nation. It was an old song from at least a hundred years ago as Aang was the only one they knew who knew it well and taught Tenzin and Lin how to do it.

"Lin, would you care to dance with me?" Tenzin asked offering his hand to Lin.

"I don't know. People will see,"

"Let them. We're just two old friends reminiscing."

"I am not sure I even remember the dance-" Lin replied reluctant to take his hand for such a quick paced, and relatively flirtatious dance for couples.

"Then I will lead," he said taking her hand and starting towards the dance floor. Izumi and her husband knew it and an old Fire Nation Admiral and his wife, then Lin and Tenzin.

The dance was a blurry, quick paced sequence of steps, twists, and turns with snaps of the chin and head and several change of holds throughout.

"Who knew the Metal Lady could dance?" Korra asked Asami.

"Our Dad made Tenzin learn almost everything there was to know about every ancient society." Kya explained.

"And Tenzin probably taught Lin," Bumi added.

"Actually, Lin was with him most of the time. She didn't like training with mom all that much in her teenage years," Suyin added.

"Oh yeah! The two were pretty much inseparable by that time," Kya remembered with fondness.

By the end of the dance, the older generation was breathless. The younger generations all cheered. Tenzin hugged Lin and kissed the top of her head almost instinctively. He thought about asking her to marry him more often than not in the past few months that she had been staying with them on Air Temple Mountain to help out with the kids, but had to wait for the right time. He didn't want the tabloids to ever think he cheated on his wife or that he didn't grieve for a long enough period of time.

The tango was the last dance before the meal was served.

Each of the tables were set for twelve. At one, Suyin's five children, Tenzin's three children, Bolin, Kai, Iroh, and Ursa sat together.

At a table adjacent, Izumi and her husband sat with Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, Lin, Suyin, Baatar, Mako, Korra, and Asami, Zhu Li, and Varrik. Varrik spoke at Asami, Korra spoke to Mako, and Zhu Li conversed with Baatar and Izumi's husband leaving the six children of War Heroes to reminisce over childhood memories. It was easy for them to keep the conversation light. Izumi had made sure none of the children would speak about what happened to Ikki and Ursa's bending. The night seemed normal until Korra came over to their table.

"Do you know if the band was supposed to stop playing? I was going to request the Cave of the Two Lovers, but the musicians are all gone," Korra said with her hands on Lin and Suyin's chairs.

Maybe they had a dinner break!" Varrik suggested pushing his chair back, kicking his feet up on the table as Zhu Li beamed, and Izumi leaned away from him, disgusted by his lack of class.

"These types of functions don't usually grant dinner breaks to the performers," Lin thought aloud, rising from her seat.

"Lin, be careful," Tenzin said grabbing her wrist.

"I'll be fine, keep an eye on the children," Lin replied smiling at him.

"Of course I will. They are _my_ children after all!" Tenzin promised squeezing her hand before letting go.

"Is anyone else stuffed or just me? I may just have to go purge before the dessert is served just to make room for all of the delicious eats they've made for us!" Varrik mused, throwing his hands behind his head in relaxation. Izumi and Mako both groaned and rolled their eyes, while Suyin and Korra laughed. Tenzin turned over to the children's table where Ikki picked at her food lightly, Huan occasionally leaning over to recommend only the best dishes to her.

* * *

"Excuse me," Lin said to the guards stationed outside of the convention center hall. "Where is the bathroom?"

"Down this hall and to the left, second door on your right," The security guard said.

"Thank you." As Lin walked, she felt around the building for the presence of others. There was a group in a small meeting room down the hall and to the right. She made sure the guards by the door through which she emerged had turned away before making the wrong turn.

"It is almost time for the dessert course! Bao, you administer the shirshu gas. Kuo, you start rounding up the airbenders. They'll be the easiest to wipe out since there are so few already. We already got the loudmouth. ShinZhu, you get the metalbenders, FengYu, you get the Fire Lord and her son. We already got her daughter," a commanding voice delegated to his subordinates. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. She must have interrogated that voice before.

"What about you, Sir?" a subordinate asked his beloved leader.

"I will deal with the Chief of Police who is right outside this door, listening," the man said. Just then, a rock mound encased Lin. She broke one arm free with brute strength and sent several sharpened metal strips blindly into the room as the leader threw the door open. He expected as much and sunk into the earth beneath them before any of the metal could strike him. He appeared behind her and sunk the earth mound trying to grab her wrists in the process as his band mates scattered. Lin kicked him between the legs and rolled away from him, sending a ripple through the earth, and then a couple of boulders to try to break his balance. But he was an earth bender and just as comfortable as she with the element. He blocked it effortlessly then extruded a column of earth from the wall beside her. She dicked and kicked it towards him before jumping and punching the ground sending a seismic wave through the ground as a warning to everybody.

"Lin's in trouble!" Suyin said standing up along with Wing, Wei, and Huan who felt it too.

"Where is she?" Tenzin demanded.

"Not telling, because you'll try to go after her," Suyin replied.

"What's going on?" Mako asked from the other side of the table.

"We need to get out!" Suyin yelled. She jumped and opened a hole in the ground displacing a few tables, ushering their children inside. It was just small enough for a few people to climb into the cavity at a time. She didn't want everyone to try to get in, not knowing who in the assembly of guests could be trusted with their children. "Wing, Wei, you bend the tunnel towards Air Temple Mountain. Stay together. Iroh, you light the way for those who can't see with their feet."

"Yes Ma'am!" Iroh said saluting before helping Ursa into the tunnel.

"What can we do?" Asami asked looking around.

Just then smoke started to come through the vents and seep through the underside of the doors and the panic ensued. Bolin closed their tunnel from underground and they were left with the panicking social elite.

"Korra, help me bend the vapors back into the vent system!" Kya yelled. She and Korra pushed the shirshu poison back through the vents as Suyin metalbent them close, all at once. Then the doors. The waterbenders pushed the vapors through and Suyin slammed earth barriers up over the doors sealing them shut semi-permanently before erecting a second tunnel. "Any other earthbenders here?" Suyin asked.

A couple.

"Get out of here!" She ordered them.

Just then, the earthen walls were kicked down by earth benders and an assortment of combatants flooded the hall.

"Su, I need to find Lin!" Tenzin said grabbing Suyin's shoulder.

"No," Su replied throwing his hand off her shoulder with a force and determination almost as strong as her big sister's. "You need to go with those people out of here and get back to Air Temple Mountain! We will hold off whomever it is!"

"But-"

"Mako! Bolin! can you go with the civilians?" Suyin asked.

"Yep!"

"Great!" With one hand, Suyin bent the ground beneath Tenzin, Mako and Bolin and threw them into the tunnel with the civilians and collapsed the entrance.

Just then, Suyin noticed as their assailants all donned gas masks and raised harpoons with shirshu poison laced darts, showering the stragglers with the sedatives. Korra and Kya water bent the cactus juice to catch most of the darts mid flight, encasing them in ice, Izumi evaporated the poisons from the tips of the darts with fire and burnt the darts to ash. Bumi blocked the darts from coming near them with messy air blasts. Then Suyin redirected a handful of them flying towards her with metalbending.

"I am going to find Lin!" Suyin yelled running straight into the enemy fire, with metalbending creating a shield around her as she plowed through the rain of darts. She jumped and did a flip over their heads then ran down the hall to see an earthbender about to crush her sister with a boulder. She jumped and kicked it out of his grip and slid, sending two humanoid earth gloves to punch him in the face and the diaphragm, shattering his nose and consciousness as well as knocking the wind from his body.

"Lin!" Suyin fell by her sister.

"I'm alright!" Lin replied brushing her off standing on her own, albeit slowly.

"The others are in the main hall,"

"And the children?"

"Somewhere underground. Let's go get the others!"

They tunneled under the unknown attackers and made a new escape route for their friends, the Avatar, and remaining guests and made their way out of the convention center.

"Bumi, do you have a bison whistle?" Suyin asked.

"No Ma'am!" Bumi declared with pride and optimism in his voice even in the immediate aftermath of a near death experience.

Kya hit her own face with her hand. Most of the guests hurried towards their fancy new Satomobiles and chauffeurs while the new team avatar, and the children of the old team avatar waited for help. Barely a minute passed before Oogi, Juicy, Pepper, and Lefty were spotted making their descent to the courtyard outside of the convention center.

"How on earth did you get here so fast?" Lin asked Opal.

"Not on earth, that's for sure!" Opal giggled.

"Wing opened the ground and Wei closed the other end and then Bolin pushed the ground beneath us all forward, so nobody really needed to even walk." Mako described.

"The police force arrived as we got out. Hopefully they find something and can report back at me when daylight comes," Lin informed everybody.

* * *

The children all rushed to their parents when the bison landed.

"Finally, I can take this wretched thing off, Lin said discarding the metal bodice off her dress before taking Ikki and Meelo in her arms.

"Who were those people?" Korra asked.

"We don't know!" Izumi said do her. "There has been a terrorist group of energy benders in the Fire Nation That has been taking people's bending away and granting formerly non-benders with firebending. We don't know yet if it is one person or many, but it is so wide spread that it's impossible to tell."

"How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell the other nations? We could have helped."

"Help?" Izumi scoffed. "Really? How could _you_ help? You were completely gone and the Earth Kingdom was in disarray for a short period of time before it was swept up under the feet of a nationalist dictator, then again by the giant MechMan. We thought we could handle it on our own at first, but couldn't so I came to warn my friends and fellow world leaders of with, you are NOT one!"

"Korra, we don't even know if the group who attacked the convention center this evening is the same group. We won't know unless there is evidence of them being able to take someone's bending like with Ikki and Ursa," Suyin said trying to calm everyone down.

"Or if they grant bending."

"I think they are," Lin chimed in. "When I was listening, they mentioned 'taking out the airbenders' and that they 'already got the loudmouth'."

"So they're after airbenders?" Korra asked.

"I think they're after all benders, or at least all benders in positions of authority." Izumi clarified.

"I have an idea," Asami interjected. "Korra and I could stage a giant fight. I can try to infiltrate their group as an enemy to the avatar hell bent on getting revenge and maybe they will trust me!"

Both Lin and Suyin shook their heads. "Their group is composed of benders and non-benders alike. The band conductor tonight was an earthbender trained in seismic sense. He knew I was there the whole time I was listening and that was how he was able to subdue me so quickly. He had time to plan every move!"

"I don't understand what seismic sense has to do with the group?" Asami began.

"It means they're powerful. If they have members with seismic sense, they will probably also have members that are truth-seers too. They'll see right through you, Asami," Suyin explained.

"Then teach me how to lie! We need someone on the inside!" Asami snapped.

"Are you sure you want to risk it?" Korra asked her girlfriend.

"Yes. I want to do this!" Asami replied. "I have to!"

"I want to go too!" Baatar Jr. chimed in. "I want to redeem myself, mother!"

"You already have when you told us how to take down Kuvira's giant platinum mech. Please sit this one out, son. I don't want to lose you too." Suyin said patting her son on the shoulder.

* * *

 **This chapter was too long in my opinion. Too long and too choppy. I need to work on transitions. Some scenes I can flesh out easily and others feel so forced. Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve? The only things that were really important here, was Tenzin's address to the people at the party and what the Band leader said to his comrades before attacking Lin. Also, I never really intended on Izumi staying as long as she has so far but I kind of like her here. I kind of want her to be a voice of reason instead of Tenzin who will continue to become more "bound to earthly tethers" ;)**

 ** **Please leave a review if you have time!****


	3. Undercover

While Suyin put in extensive hours with Asami, training her to lie, Mako and Lin put in extensive hours at the police station with Izumi's help the day after the party. They scoured through files on various gangs in Republic City's recent history. They took a trip back to the old Police headquarters in the ruins of the old Republic City. Fortunately those records hadn't suffered much damage at all since the archives were a few levels underground. The past few months with the exception of last night was void of organized crime.

"I guess we'll just have to go undercover," Lin sighed setting down another file.

"Do you know where triads hang out?"

"Of course," Lin replied. That evening, Lin dressed down and went undercover in Dragon Flats Borough. She had Kya paint some fake tattoos and some extra scars on her, and Suyin metalbend a couple of fake piercings and she went with Mako waiting in an escape car on the outskirts of the neighborhood. After listening for quite some time and burning through a pipe of tea leaves, Lin smashed her half drunk bottle of cactus juice against the wall of the building and shoved her hands into the pockets of her trench coat and trudged back up the hill.

"Any news?" Mako asked once Lin returned to the car.

"I'll tell you when we get back with the others,"

* * *

"The Terra Triad and Agni Kais have completely disappeared. Only the Triple Threat Triad was there planning something. They sounded extremely worried. I would almost say frightened. Some of their members have been abducted, but they are too afraid to report it out of fear they would be arrested upon walking through the doors of Headquarters, or their missing members would be arrested upon being found," Lin informed Mako, Suyin, Izumi, Kya, and Tenzin.

"Are the Triple Threats firebenders?" Izumi asked.

"No. They're a group of all benders except air," Mako replied.

"Did they mention who was going missing? Was it just one type of bender or all?"

"Water. Their waterbenders are going missing,"

"We should go back tomorrow!" Mako said.

"I can't! Someone will probably recognize me," Lin replied.

"I can go," Izumi offered. "I am here for two more days."

"Don't you think that is a little risky for the Fire Lord to engage in detective work? Why can't I just go?" Mako asked.

"I don't want you headed out into such dangerous territory alone, yet," Lin replied putting her foot down.

"How are the triads dangerous? After helping with Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, Kuvira, and the MechMan, I think I can handle a couple of thugs in New Republic City's underbelly," Mako replied.

"Mako's right, Lin. They can't be that dangerous if they haven't been able to take over the entire city yet," Suyin noted.

"And it sounds like the Triple Threats are one of the weaker gangs if they're being targeted by the Terra Triad and the Agni Kai," Izumi added.

"I can send Wing and Wei in there with Bolin if it makes you feel any better. They're thinking of moving to Republic City to join your police force anyways. Something about wanting a change of scenery and a more diverse community. It would be good practice for them," Suyin offered.

"Hm," Lin frowned. "I suppose they can go," she decided reluctantly.

"Remember what mom said?" Suyin asked with a smile.

"What?" Lin growled.

"Eventually, you gotta leave it to the kids!" Suyin said throwing her fists in the air. Lin shoved her onto the floor and walked past them.

"I am going to bed, it has been a long day!"

Lin found Ikki in her bed fast asleep. She tried to be gentle and quiet, careful to not wake the young girl, but she began to stir anyways.

"I missed you today. Last night was so scary and today you've been so busy!" Ikki said wrapping her arms around Lin.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to be home more tomorrow. We won't need to go into town until evening anyways," Lin said running her fingers through the young girl's long, straight hair.

"Hmmmm..." Ikki tucked her face into Lin's neck and fell back asleep.

* * *

On Sunday, Korra and Asami scheduled a picnic date in New Republic City Park. They got into a heated argument about trivial things first then escalated into a debate about politics, morals, and fundamental values. Korra, in her rage destroyed the park completely with her bending and got arrested while Asami went home and ordered all of the Avatar's belongings to be thrown out the window of her massive mansion. In a secondary argument, Bolin and Mako and all of their aunts, uncles and cousins and grandmother were also kicked out and their belonging dumped on the street in a similar fashion. Suyin kindly took them in and moved them to the Beifong Estate in the upper ring of the city on the neighborhood where the "old" money lived while the Sato Mansion was on the side of the city where the "new money" lived.

"Don't you think it is strange to have one of my subordinates and his entire family living in _MY_ house?" Lin asked Suyin when she returned to Air Temple Island with Mako and Bolin.

"It is mom's house, not yours, and technically, we share it," Suyin reminded her, rolling her eyes.

"On paper," Lin corrected her, taking a bite of a sweet bun after lunch with Tenzin's children.

"Yes, on paper, so I can house whomever I want in it. I didn't think they should come here with all of the air benders, because well, there are a lot of airbenders now," Suyin replied taking a seat across from her sister with Bolin and Mako.

"You have a point,"

"Chief," Mako began.

"Yes, Mako?"

"I spent some time at headquarters this morning, and I came across something... rather unusual..."

"Just spit it out already!"

"The Red Monsoons. They sent some clean new recruit to us to report seven missing people. All of them were on the medium priority wanted list."

"They're all waterbenders aren't they?"

"Yeah," Lin thought for a moment.

"You aren't leaving again, are you?" Ikki asked.

"I won't until tonight," Lin promised her. "Mako, what do you think of hitting the Red Monsoon's hangout tonight instead of the Triple Threats?"

"I think it would be a wise move, considering we were just with the Triple Threats last night and got a lot of information from them already,"

"I agree,"

"The only problem, is we would need a waterbender to get in."

"Korra?" Mako suggested.

"I don't want to waste the Avatar on this," Lin replied.

"But she already feels useless and excluded in this investigation after Izumi kind of called her out for not being a world leader," Mako told her.

"Because she isn't. She is still so young has to learn so much and not just expect everything to go her way and everyone to automatically obey her because she is the avatar," Lin replied.

"I guess," Mako sighed.

"Why don't we ask Kya? Since it is a new location, you can probably accompany her, I can stay back with Mako in the car with a radio transmitter, and you can wear a microphone under your coat," Suyin suggested.

"That could work,"

"Lin, Su, can I talk to you, privately?" Izumi asked entering the room with two of her royal guards.

"Sure," the two beifong women said standing.

"We can go into the kitchen,"

"Have you begun interrogating the guys who took Ikki's bending?" Izumi asked.

"I haven't, but Song and Saikhan have been working on them down at the station. Why do you ask?"

"It would just be a lot easier to predict their movements if we knew their motives," Izumi replied. "Based on the data, they have been redistributing firebending from the prominent citizens to the farmers and merchants. But there has been no real uprising,"

"And now in Republic City, waterbending gang members are going missing," Lin added.

"Though it seems more... premeditated here. In the fire nation, other than Ursa's bending, the others weren't very extraordinary or significant, and they don't seem to want anything."

* * *

Ursa stayed back at Air Temple Island to go through some paperwork and help watch all of the children young adults while Suyin and Mako went with Lin and Kya to the neighborhood where the Red Monsoon Triad were known to assemble and wreak havoc.

Lin and Kya dressed down into black sweats and black button up shirts with blue seams and tiger clasps. They tied their hair back and tucked it into beanies, threw ash on each other's faces to give the illusion of poverty and drew extra lines under each other's eyes as if there weren't already enough on their aging faces.

"Remember to drink some but not too much," Suyin said before they got out of the SatoMobile.

"I know, I've done undercover before!" Lin snapped with annoyance.

"I was talking to Kya!" Su growled.

Lin rolled her eyes and headed down the street with Kya following.

The two women sat at the bar in the seedy water-tribe pub and ordered shot after shot. Kya already had an extremely high cactus juice tolerance and could drink over eighteen super-concentrated shots before even laughing. She played with the drinks with her waterbending, sometimes stealling the contents of Lin's glass as she lifted it to her lips and 'accidentally' discarding it into the sink across the counter of the bar or into a passerby's cup, snickering as she went.

"An earthbender is entering the bar," Lin whispered to Kya, feeling the presence of a stronger and more steady heartbeat than that typically of water and fire benders. "With a few others."

Lin took a small sip and listened as the earthbender took a seat in a far booth in the pub, sitting across from the new leader of the Red Monsoons.

"Hey Bao, how's our Avatar coming along?" the leader of the Red Monsoons asked.

"Nicely. She's got earth and fire down pretty well, but still struggling with water and air. We need to calm her down a lot before she will even attempt to bend those elements even though she has the energy in her and her chakra's unlocked," Bao replied taking a large gulp of cactus juice straight from the pitcher brought to their table.

"How can you be certain they're unlocked? Last time I checked, Spiritual Guru was not part of your repertoire,"

"I did not come here to be insulted."

"Why did you come here, then? Do you need more of our waterbenders to lend their instruction... or their bending?"

"Nah... your remaining waterbenders are too valuable to our cause. We'll just snatch up a couple more from the Triple Threats and transfer their bending,"

"I wonder why her body isn't receptive to the transfer of energy,"

"I don't know. Maybe it is just holding on too hard to the earth inside of her,"

"Maybe..." the leader of the Red Monsoons thought pensively curling one side of is mustache around his index finger, looking around the pub when he spotted Lin and Kya. Lin had her back to them, but could feel their gaze on her, or maybe just Kya. She was starting to stack her shot glasses absentmindedly. Lin knew it took a lot more to get Kya actually drunk, but she was really good at acting like it. She leaned her head in her hand, as if frustrated with her date for the evening, but in reality, just wanted to avoid all conversation with others.

"I've never seen a waterbender with one foot planted so firmly on the ground," the leader of the Red Monsoons said to Bao noticing Lin had one foot on the bottom rung of her stool and one completely flat against the ground, so she could 'see' all that was happening.

"That is because she's not a waterbender. She's an eartbender, clearly," Bao said.

 _Fuck!_ Lin screamed internally.

"Hey, you two!" Bao said walking up to Lin and Kya at the bar. Lin rolled her eyes and looked up at him with a bored expression on her face. Kya looked up with a vague interest, taking a shot glass off her pile, bending more cactus juice out of the tap while the bartender wasn't looking and handed it to Bao.

"This one's on me," Kya said with a smile and a wink, handing the glass to Bao.

"Are you guys together?" Bao asked accepting the glass as the leader of the Red Monsoons joined him.

Lin glanced lazily at Kya. "Unfortunately," she replied grimly.

"And you're earth?" Bao asked looking into Lin's emerald eyes.

"Yes," Lin hissed.

"And you're water?" He asked Kya.

"Obviously," Kya said flirtatiously twirling a glob of cactus juice before tossing it in the air, catching it in one gulp.

"I am just curious, how do you tolerate each other?" Bao asked.

"With great difficulty, clearly," Lin replied looking over at Kya's wild behavior with mild concern.

"Oh shut up! You know you love me!" Kya yelled putting a hand on Lin's shoulder, spilling some cactus juice on her lap.

Lin punched Kya hard enough to knock her off her chair.

The leader of the Red Monsoon Triad saved her head from hitting first as Kya fell to the ground and waterbent the cactus juice off of Lin's lap.

"In all seriousness," Kya said pausing to gulp down saliva as she struggled to stand again. Lin watched as Bao earthbent a handle to help Kya and then a column under her rear end to prop her up. Kya reached for another glass when Bao took it from her.

"In all seriousness?" He asked holding it out of her reach. Kya pulled the liquid from the glass, suspending it in the air and took a gulp from the blob hovering beside Bao's head and smiled.

"In all seriousness, it has everything to do with the chi," Kya said wrapping her arms around Lin's neck, leaning her cheek against her friend's. "She knows where to touch me," Kya whispered licking the side of her neck. Lin pushed her away uncomfortably.

Lin snorted as Bao and the leader of the Red Monsoons looked disgusted.

"Okay, so we know how to make water love earth, but how about the other way around?" Bao asked. He looked directly at Lin as if he recognized her from the party at the Multi Cultural Convention Center. "How do you make the earth love the water and the sky?" He asked reaching out, wrapping his hand around Lin's neck.

Lin immediately thought of Tenzin to slow her heart down. He was an earthbender with seismic sense and no doubt truth seeing. How did Tenzin make me love him? "By being increadibly kind to it," Lin said staring into Bao's eyes. Just then she opened her hand and metalbent a dart laced with shirshu poison into his chest as Kya bent a vile of the poision directly through the leader of the Red Monsoon Triad's skin and into his veins, knocking the two gang bosses out instantly, and they ran for it, Lin tearing up and repairing the street as she climbed the hilly road out of the shitty neighborhood.

"So back to the police station or Air Temple Mountain?" Mako asked.

"What do you think?" Lin replied.

"Get us back to Izumi and Tenzin. Korra should hear it too." Suyin said tossing Lin and Kya each a wet rag to clean off their faces as the car drove away.

"And never lick me again, you nasty!" Lin said turning to Kya beside her with disgust.

"To be honest, I have always wanted to do that, Lin," Kya replied with a smirk as she pulled off her beanie.

"Ugh!" Lin shivered. "I can't believe you're related to Tenzin."

* * *

"Good you're all here!" Lin exclaimed walking into the living room where Bolin, Izumi, Tenzin, Korra and Iroh were still awake, reading and sorting through paperwork, magazines, and newspaper clippings.

"We have good news! The tabloids reacted perfectly to the fight in the park! Look, Future Industries CEO breaks up with the Avatar in a Heated and Violent Altercation in the City Park!" Bolin read enthusiastically.

"Do you have news on the triads?" Izumi asked.

"Yes!" Lin took a deep breath. Where to even start?

"They say they have an avatar. Their 'avatar' can bend earth and fire. They mentioned transferring waterbending to this 'avatar, but she seems to be unreceptive to it. The leader of the Red Monsoons offered up some of his waterbenders, but the other guy, an earthbender named Bao declined saying that the Red Monsoon waterbenders were too valuable to the cause to waste on their inept avatar. So they decided to just 'snatch up some [waterbenders] from the Triple Threats'," Suyin summarized based on what she overheard from the satomobile through the microphone and radio.

"This is beyond what I have ever imagined," Tenzin sighed rubbing his temples with frustration.

"How could this go unnoticed by the police?" Izumi asked Lin.

"How could it go unnoticed by the Fire Lord? It all started on your domain!" Lin replied.

"I knew crime rates couldn't drop to zero in a month in a half," Tenzin muttered.

"But who is this other avater?" Korra asked.

"Apparently someone who could bend earth and fire with some amount of proficiency but cannot handle water or air. They asked us how to get earth to love the water and the sky," Lin answered.

"They spoke to you directly?!" Tenzin yelled with an unecessary amount of concern. "Do you know the danger of-"

"Get over yourself Tenzin! I know what I am doing and the risks that come with being undercover!"

"Do you think they may have suspected you were detectives?" Iroh asked.

"They must have once we sedated them with shirshu poison and fled," Kya thought aloud.

"But, now that I think of it, maybe they wanted us to know. They were speaking rather loudly in the pub. It is not like they even bothered going into a back room or a basement," Lin mused.

"Or they know they have control of that neighborhood," Suyin suggested.

"Regardless, we know we can't go to that place, but it might be enough information for at least some time," Lin said sitting down finally.

"We need to find out who this other avatar is that can bend earth and fire!" Korra roared with anger.

"And stop whomever it is from obtaining water and air!" Bolin added.

"Chief, do you think we can risk putting out a reward for former gang members to come talk to us?" Mako asked Lin.

"No. At this point, I don't trust any information given to us unless it is directly retrieved by one of us," Lin replied accepting a cup of tea from Tenzin.

"Of course," Mako sighed.

* * *

 **I am a lot happier with this chapter than the last. I was kind of thinking about a TV show called 'The Americans' about some KGB sleepers in DC area when writing the scene with Kya and Lin going undercover in the shady part of town. Also, apparently Kyalin is a very popular ship here and around DeviantArt and Tumblr and Pintrest so... yeah... I put it in here. But I feel like Kyalin would be a very one-sided relationship with Kya doing all of the loving. Katara did describe Kya and Bumi as wild and Tenzin as always being so serious. And Lin is so serious. But hey, apparently opposites attract. But I can never truly believe anything but my OTP and that is Linzin.**


	4. A New Era

The air was heavy with fear and apprehension as the Zaofu airship and the Royal Fire Nation airship anchored to Air Temple Mountain and their visitors prepared to leave.

"Do you have to leave so soon?" Ikki asked Ursa and Izumi with tears in her eyes.

"I am so sorry Ikki! As much as I would like to stay, I cannot. I have a nation to run, and it would only be selfish for me to run away in times like this," Izumi told the child, holding both of her hands, looking into her eyes.

"You'll be okay, Ikki. Just stay strong. Everything will be okay. So many great heroes have been non-benders, like Suki of Kyoshi Island and Ty Lee of the Fire Nation, Smellerbee and the Duke of the Earth Kingdom," Ursa said. "You will be fine." Ikki nodded and hugged the Fire Princess.

"Will you be going back to Zaofu?" Lin asked Suyin before they said their goodbyes.

"Ba Sing Se, sadly?"

"What do you think of it?"

"Mom was right, it is really the worst city ever. As soon as we finish the railroad and mail system, and collect a census on the population, we can organize an election and I can go back to Zaofu. Damn Wu and his dream of this Earth Republic," Suyin muttered.

"Why does the Republic work in Republic City?"

There are less people to appease. Trying to get hundreds of millions of people from thousands of isolated villages each with different religions and traditions to agree on one policy is like trying to get a hairless hog-monkey to breathe under water and survive!" Suyin groaned.

"I'm sorry, little sister. I'm sure you'll make it work somehow."

"We'll see," Suyin replied smiling, embracing her sister.

"Thank you for saving me," Ikki said to Huan as he began to walk up the gangway to the Zaofu Airship before bidding farewell to anyone.

"Thanks for sitting by me at that dreadful ball, even if it all went to shit," Huan replied. "I am sorry if I wasn't much for company."

"Don't apologize! I thought it was nice, having you there! And thank you for chasing that boy away!"

"No problem, Ikki. I'd gladly do it again, if you want me to."

"Thank you!" Ikki threw her arms around him. He just tensed and looked up pleadingly at his mother with an expression that screamed _CAN WE LEAVE NOW?_

"I hope to see ya soon, bro!" Wing said with tears in his eyes as he clapped Bolin on the back with one hand and shook Bolin's hand with the other.

"Yeah! You too, Bros!" Bolin said throwing his arms around both Wing and Wei, all three of them crying.

"Treat our sister well!" Wei said waving to Bolin and Opal.

"Yeah or else you'll find yourself being swallowed by your own lavabending!"

"I will! Don't worry!" Bolin cried as the twins ascended the gangway.

"Good luck with the investigation," Baatar said to Tenzin.

"Thanks," Tenzin replied.

* * *

After all the departures from Air Temple Island, the stressful vacation was over. Tenzin had to return to Republic City's Council and Lin had to present a report summarizing the findings of her officers after the atack on the Multi Cultural Center that Friday night. Somehow she had to lie to buy her, Suyin, and Izumi time to investigate the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation time while she delved into Republic City. Ever since Tarrlok captured the Avatar five years ago in a stunt to try to gain fame and favor with the people, Lin had been extremely wary of politicians, if she weren't already wary of them enough.

They managed to capture some of the slower henchmen of the Terra Triad and the Agni Kais and Red Monsoons. Their cooperation was like one GIANT Triple Threat gang. The interrogations throughout that weekend by the officers at headquarters managed to break through some of the sardines, but the bigger fish of the ocean still weren't speaking. Unfortunately, these worker wasps didn't know much other than their respective allegiances and their commanding officers who were people the police had no record of in the old and new headquarters's archives.

Lin spent six hours under interrogation by the Republic City Council answering both relevant and painfully irrelevant questions by senior councilmen, junior councilmen, trainees, assistants, and civilians who attended the open meeting.

Finally, the session was drawn to a close.

"Lin, I must warn you," tenzin began, chasing after Lin down a side corridor off the main chamber.

"The council asked you to spy on me?"

"How did you know?"

"It is obvious they don't trust me. They know my work patterns. They know I know more. hell, you could have answered most of those questions and more!"

"Why are you holding back?" Tenzin asked.

"Izumi and I both explained, we don't know who in there could be working with the energy benders. Almost ALL of the other councilmen are non-benders who simply grew up in the nations they are representing. They have no idea the struggle we have to deal with protecting their asses all of the time from the greedy benders who want to create a new world order in chaos or unity," Lin replied.

"You're right. Even the beloved leader of the Equalist Revolution was a bloodbender,"

"Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if Korra hadn't restored my bending."

"More depressing than it already was," You wouldn't have been able to help with Unalaq or Zaheer or Kuvira. You wouldn't have been sent after Korra. You wouldn't have reconciled with Su,"

"I suppose,"

"Your bending is a gift. Don't even joke about not having it!" Tenzin said placing his hands on her shoulders.

She sighed and he wrapped his arms around her as she relaxed against his shoulder.

"May I accompany you back to the station? You need a cup of tea, and after three days at home, my guess is you'll think yourself too busy to bother making it yourself," Tenzin asked.

Over the next three days, they received a dozen missing person reports. One was a former water pro-bending player, two were waterbending acrobats from the circus, one was a waterbending spokesperson for ethnic water tribesmen's rights in Republic City, and three were waterbending children from the city's waterbending academy and the rest were just average waterbending adult citizens.

The entire police force was called out of the reserves and called back from vacation after the period of zero crime and summoned to action. The endless investigations lead absolutely nowhere. They gave smell samples to shirshus and still couldn't find the missing persons. They were just... gone. They sent a code Red alert for the missing persons to the nearby Earth Kingdom towns and Fire Nation Islands with a letter to Suyin in Ba Sing Se and Izumi in the capital.

After exactly seven days, the bodies of those waterbenders reappeared exactly where they were last seen. They were all alive with no recollection of where they spent the last week. They were weak, without bending, and with a note sewn to the sleeve of their coats. "

 _Korra's time is over. The era of the Avatar Cycle is over. The era of the chosen Avatars has begun._

* * *

"Chosen?" Tenzin asked.

"Avatarrrrssssss? Plural?!" Korra exclaimed when Lin tossed one of the tags in the clear evidence bag, down in front of them.

"You know everything I know, right now." She said folding her arms, standing on the other side of her desk.

"Chief Beifong! We have something you might want to see! Something urgent!" An officer announced, barging into Lin's office.

"What?!" She yelled with frustration, following.

"This!" he handed her a folder.

Daily Report

Prisoner: Zaheer

9:00AM Prisoner consumed morning ration

9:13AM Prisoner relieved himself

9:20AM Prisoner began meditating.

10:30PM Prisoner is no-longer flying.

"I want to know everyone responsible for watching his cell brought to me NOW!" Lin ordered. The officer saluted and ran off to get the off-duty police officers, white lotus members, and united forces guards assigned to Zaheer's specially designed prison cell deep in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

"Why don't we just go straight to Zaheer?" Korra suggested to Tenzin while Lin interrogated the soldiers.

"Do you really trust him, Korra?" Tenzin asked. "After all he's done?"

"Yes. He helped me regain control of the avatar state so I could defeat Kuvira. And every time I have spoken to him, he has been honest and answered all of my questions. He just... was... troubled," Korra explained.

"Ugh! I swear I have to do everything myself these days. These sentries are useless! They let not one but three unauthorized visitors into the cell AT THE SAME TIME!" Lin yelled in frustration, exiting the interrogation room, slamming the door with a force that wrinkled it beyond recognition as if the 15 inch steel were a flimsy shower curtain.

Lin, Korra, and Tenzin journeyed the next morning to Zaheer's prison cell where he just sat on his concrete platform, still in chains, chanting "Let go or your earthly tether." Tenzin glanced at Lin "...Enter the void. Empty and become wind."

"Will you shut it and listen for a second?" Lin growled walking straight up to him, bending the metal strips on her forearm into a long knife holding it to Zaheer's neck.

Zaheer didn't even flinch as he opened his eyes and lifted his gaze to the angry Chief of Police.

"You don't need to threaten me, Chief Beifong. I will speak. Sit all of you. I am sure you have many questions," Zaheer said.

"I am fine standing, thanks," Lin replied relaxing her arm a bit, but not retracting the blade.

"Why aren't you flying anymore?!" Korra demanded.

"I gave it away," Zaheer replied calmly closing his eyes again.

"To who?" Tenzin asked.

"Oh, just an old friend of mine,"

"Another member of the Red Lotus?" Lin asked.

"No, a member of the Agni Kai Triad,"

"Why?" Korra asked in disbelief.

"They needed another airbender. Apparently Ikki's bending was not strong enough to override the block in that little earthbender's heart."

Tenzin's heart rate and breathing increased.

"What little earthbender?" Lin growled, her own temper rising.

"The next avatar. The one the people chose,"

"How is that even possible?" Korra demanded.

Zaheer laughed. "You really are the worst Avatar known to man, Korra. Avatar Aang could answer that question you just asked. In the time before the avatar, very near the beginning, before we bent the elements, we learned to bend the energy within ourselves. This art was lost among generations as element bending became more practical to the various pockets of civilization around the world. Energy bending became forgotten. After harmonic convergence, knowledge of this ancient art has been renewed in those spiritual enough to feel it. They realize that with the acquisition of this old power, they had a duty, an obligation to the people. It is time to give rise to a new generation of benders. Let the old and ancient families be relieved of their burdens and responsibilities. What use is my gift in prison? Airbending is wasted on me now. I saw no harm in giving it away to be bestowed upon a young, deserving new Avatar who can be raised truly humble and neutral, a new avatar that knows what is like to suffer and be afraid..."

"Oh and I haven't suffered enough after you POISONED ME?!" Korra yelled, lighting both of her hands on fire, rushing up to Zaheer as Lin took a step back.

"You don't deserve to be Avatar. You cannot be trusted to restore or maintain peace or balance. You are rash, volatile, and stubborn. You disobeyed your advisors in training and became an entitled, selfish, and unreliable avatar. You forgo the good of the people to help your friends and satisfy your own selfish needs. Your time is done, Korra, and the chosen avatar will rise up and destroy you," Zaheer said opening his eyes again to look directly into hers.

"No!" Korra screamed, turning away from all three of them, blasting the side of the wall with an intense fire from within.

"Where is this new avatar?" Lin asked.

"That, I don't know. I am not so high in the food chain. I merely provided my bending," Zaheer replied.

They stood in silence for a few moments as Korra crouched down on the ground and cried, Tenzin stood by the doorway, and Lin stood with one foot on the platform that Zaheer was chained to.

"Wait, do you know what this means?" Lin asked him pulling one of the tags found on the missing waterbenders after they got their bending taken away.

 _Korra's time is over. The era of the Avatar Cycle is over. The era of the chosen Avatars has begun._

"Two of these sentences speak truth. One is false. I will let you determine the rest, Chief Beifong. My time in the mortal world is done," Zaheer said as he closed his eyes. They watched as he entered the spirit world effortlessly. Lin opened the sole of her metal boots and felt his heart rate slow to an impossibly slow rate, and then stop completely.

"He's gone," Lin confirmed.

"Like just- killed himself?" Korra asked.

"Or just severed ties with his body?" Tenzin asked.

Lin shook her head with confusion. "Just... gone."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoy this story. Please leave comments/reviews. All criticism is welcome! Help me to improve!**


	5. Time is an Illusion

"'Time is an illusion and so is death,' a wise swamp bender named Huu once told me," Aang said to young Lin and Tenzin as they sat on the floor in the living room of the main house on Air Temple Island. Tenzin clutched a stuffed Sky Bison and Lin had a stuffed badgermole that Uncle Sokka had won for them at a game at the festival in the city that day. The carpets and tapestries were all different then. The weaves were distinctly watertribe patterns with hues of blues and off-whites while the carpets swirled with the flowing patterns of air. Lin smiled as she watched the scene unfold in her memory. Her left hand was linked with Tenzin's right. She always sat on the right of him for some reason during story time. They were so enthralled by Aang's stories of his adventures around the world, the ones Kya and Bumi never had the patience to bother listening to then and now complained about. Maybe the two 'serious' children at the time subconsciously knew that their fates would be chained to the city that they were born in for a majority of their lives. Maybe Aang's stories were their only opportunity to explore the vast world.

"He once told us, 'you think you're any different from me, or your friends? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like JT. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree,' and that was when I first saw your Mother, Linny. She was a mirage in the swamp. Just a laughing girl in a pretty dress with a pet flying boar. She was someone I will meet. And King Bumi of the Great City of Omashu once told me my earthbending master would be someone who waited, and listened..." _listened... listen... listen.._

* * *

"Are you even listening, Chief?" Korra asked snapping her fingers in the older woman's face. Lin's eyes refocused and she saw everyone in the room staring at her.

"No, I am not," Lin replied folding the napkin in her lap, tucking it under her half-eaten plate. "Tenzin, may I borrow Oogi for a few days?"

"D-days?" Tenzin stuttered. "Why do you need Oogi? Where are you going?"

"To the swamp. There's someone I need to see," Lin replied nearly through the door before Tenzin ran over and grabbed her arm. She sighed and looked down at where his firm grip ensnared her wrist. "I think- it may sound crazy, but I think I have an idea of how there is more than one Avatar at a time, but... I am not sure."

"And you think the swamp benders will be able to help you?" Tenzin asked.

"The swamp benders aren't the only ones who live in the swamp," Lin rolled her eyes.

"You're going to see Toph!" Korra realized. Korra had stumbled upon Toph in the swamp during her efforts to recover after Zaheer's poison interfered with her ability to enter the Avatar State.

"Yes," Lin replied.

"Must you go? There isn't someone else..." Tenzin began to protest.

"Yes, I must go and whether or not you consent won't change my decision," Lin said sternly.

Tenzin sighed and let go of her wrist. "Fine, take Oogi, but... Be safe!" He said. He looked longingly at her. He wanted to kiss her. He hated every time she walked away with that fierce determination to do _something._ He hated always worrying about her.

"Daddy," Ikki called. Both Tenzin and Lin turned towards her. "Just kiss her already!" Ikki said turning away.

"Wh-"

Tenzin didn't need to be told twice as his lips came down on hers. "Please be safe! For all of us!" he begged, holding her face.

"It's just the swamp!" she said, out of breath. Her heart was racing. She was flustered, like they were young again, afraid someone would see. But it was obvious. They still loved each other. She glanced suspiciously at everyone in the room staring before rushing out to the bison stables.

* * *

The swamp look so wounded and sad. It had been over a year and a half since Kuvira's forces had harvested spirit vines from it for their horrible spirit cannon. The swamp looked like no matter how hard it tried, it could never recover from such a brutal assault. Even with its rough beating, the canopy still remained dense leaving no where to land the bison safely except on the massive banyan tree in the heart of the swamp. Fortunately, the vines didn't attack Lin and Oogi on their descent, but Lin knew better than to get her hopes up. The swamp was a strange and mysterious place.

"Can you wait for me here, Oogi?" Lin asked sliding down the front leg of the six ton sky bison. "I would bring you along, but your horns might get caught in the vines. Just- promise you won't attack the vines or roots. Don't stomp or bite. They are living too. They deserve kindness like all creatures do," Lin said patting the sky bison's head before taking a few paces back. She turned and headed into the dense swamp.

Lin made sure to keep her knives in her sleeves and the bottoms of her feet uncovered as she made her way through the thick fauna. She stepped carefully not wanting to disturb the spirits or ground dwellers any more than her presence already did. She moved aside every vine slowly and carefully. _I come in peace. Please don't attack me. I just want to find my mother._ After a few hours of walking nearly blindly through mud and tree roots, Lin heard a voice. It sounded like a child crying. She broke into a run towards the sound. It got louder. She came to some vines covering the opening to a cave, but when she parted them, the cave was completely vacant. The crying ceased.

Lin took a deep breath and tried to recall some of Aang's stories. "...'In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not, we're still connected to them. Time is an illusion, and so is death...' Time is an illusion... so it is someone I will meet?"

"What sort of spiritual nonsense are you babbling over there, Linny? Forgive me but my ears have been extra fuzzy lately!" a grumpy old lady called from behind Lin.

"Mom! I.. was just... Never mind that, just remembering something. I came to ask you if Aang ever told you about energy bending. Like how it worked or..." Lin began.

"Energy bending huh? That thing he used to take Ozai and Yakone's bending?" Toph asked with her hands behind her hunched back, her eyes, gazing up at the sky, unseeing.

"Yeah, we thought only the avatar could take somebody's bending, but then Amon did it with waterbending, and now... it seems like anyone can do it!"

"Anyone CAN do it!"

"We're at a loss. Izumi reported hundreds of firebenders have had their bending stolen in the past few years, and now waterbenders in Republic City are dropping like spiderflies being sprayed with Varr-insecticide!"

"Why do you need to know how it works?"

"We have to find out how to combat it. These-Energy Benders are giving non-benders the ability, and apparently, they're trying to create a new avatar and everything!"

"Well I can't say I blame them for wanting a new Avatar-" Toph mused.

"MOM!" Lin yelled with exasperation, covering her head with her hand in frustration.

"I dunno, Linny... It sounds like you all have someone extremely pissed off. It takes an extremely powerful and spiritual being to be able to bend the energy within himself let alone other people..." Toph began to explain when Lin heard the child crying again.

"Where is- Do you hear it too?"

"OF COURSE I HEAR THAAAAT! Damn kid hasn't stopped crying since some old friends left here nine days ago!"

"Old friends?"

"Lightening Bolt Zolt, Yakone..." Toph began to list.

"They're still alive?- Never mind- Don't answer that! - and Mom, those aren't your friends! They are your enemies. You locked them up, remember? Numerous times. Zolt held me captive for six days when I was fifteen just to prove himself to the leader of the Triple Threats at the time!"

"There are no such things as friends and enemies in the swamp, Linny. We are all the same- just different branches of the same tree. Some of us are old branches, wounded, cut off from the main supply lines of life, crumbly, ready to break off and fall with the other debris to the swamp floor. Other branches are big and strong and still covered with green leaves, so full of life and energy and strength! Then other branches still are barely breaking through the bark of the trunk of the tree. They are just beginning to bud. Just beginning to be form. These buds are malleable, even more malleable than those lumps of shit in Su's meteorite garden! These buds, these green branches, and these crumbling twigs area all attached to the tree. We are all connected, Linny, and we are all free," Toph said turning her back to Lin. Lin looked down at her feet pensively for a second. When she looked up, her mother was gone. _Don't tell me she's dead! No. We'd know if she's dead. These mirages. They're not necessarily someone who has died or we will meet. They're just people we are connected to. And we are all connected to each other..._

"Ugh!" She rubbed her head in frustration.

"Finally!" a small voice shrieked. Lin opened her eyes and looked down to see a scrawny little girl with scratches and bruises on her bony arms and legs and dirt in her hair and on her face and well, everything. She was wearing a green dress with a yellow tunic and a brown belt around her tiny body. Her hair was tied in a messy low pony tail and her hair came down to her straight hips. "Another human!" She looked up at Lin. Her skin was smooth, her nose small, and her upper lip nearly non-existent. But her eyes. They couldn't be greener. They seemed so familiar. Her chin was slightly pointier than Lin's and her skin a half shade darker. "But you're different from the others. Your a lady! And your face has not so many lines as the people they usually send, and you're made of earth! Like me!"

"Was? How can you be made of earth and then just... not be anymore?" Lin asked bending down to place a hand on the child's back. "Did someone take your bending away?"

"I didn't have bending to begin with. My mother was an earthbender, and she made me and that is how I am made of earth. And I am from the earth kingdom. _They_ gave me earthbending. _They_ gave me everything and told me I had to learn. Earth was easy enough since it was always in me, I just had no access to it. Fire as well, but air and water, I cannot do even though they say I am supposed to. But I just can't! _They_ say I am of no use to the world if I cannot bend air and water and so they left me here and told me to not even try to return until I can waterbend. I go through the motions," the girl began stepping away from Lin and into a puddle of mud up to her knees, and waded around with her arms in a stance similar to Korra's waterbending stance with open palms and her thumbs folded in, she moved and kicked, "But nothing happens." She sighed dropping her hands by her side.

"Do you want to go back to _them_?" Lin asked curiously.

"No, but I am hungry and have nowhere else to go, so I kept trying!" the child said flopping down on a massive tree root.

Lin opened the pouch on her belt and pulled out some blubbered seal jerky. "Here," She said gruffly tossing the child a few pieces. The girl looked up at her almost in shock. Lin sat beside her.

"What about you?"

"I have a home to go to, but first, I have a few questions for you," Lin said smoothing out the black skirt of her dress that she now wore between the metal and her skin so that any genius who tried to electrocute her, couldn't get through to her body.

"Ask away! Thank you for the food!" The girl touched the food to her head, bowing to Lin. _What a polite thing._

"How did _they_ give you bending?" Lin asked.

"Like this," She climbed to stand on the tree root with her seal jerky between her fingers and put one hand on Lin's forehead and one on her chest, but nothing happened. "I don't think it will go through the metal, but it was here and here. I don't know how but after _they_ touched me there, like that, I could bend earth and a few weeks later, they did it again and I could bend fire, and a few weeks after that, _they_ did it again and nothing happened."

"Why did you want to bend all of the elements?"

"I didn't. _They_ made me. I didn't want to have the burden of bending. My mother couldn't be happier when I was born a non-bender. She said we would never have to worry about me being recruited to the Dai Li or some city's guard. She was glad I would never be expected to lay my life down for others, and am glad too! I know, it probably just sounds selfish. But the men who took me, _they_ said those who don't want power are the best at handling it because they will be lazy. They will appease the people, make them happy because happy people don't argue or cause problems for their leader. _They_ said since I don't want to be a bender, I would be the perfect person to be made into the next avatar, bender of all four elements. But I do not know how to bend everything. Even when I try, my body just won't will everything. They say it is because the earth in me is too stubborn and unforgiving. Do you know what that means?"

"I'm sorry, I don't," Lin replied sitting beside the child.

The girl slumped her shoulders in disappointment. A thousand thoughts, questions and possibilities raced through Lin's head int he four seconds before the girl spoke again. "I hope the current avatar won't hate me, if we ever meet. I know this is not how it is supposed to be. The next avatar is supposed to be born **after** the last one dies... I have an idea!" the girl thrust the last piece of blubbered seal jerky back at Lin, startling her. "Will you starve me?"

"What?" Lin asked sliding away from the girl with her hands up in refusal. "Why?"

"If I starve and die, _they_ will give up on trying to make me waterbend and I will never have to go back to their compound. I can be free."

"Who is _they_ and where is _their_ compound?"

"I don't know who _they_ all are, and I was always blind folded in transport, so I don't know where the compound is."

"Do you have parents? I know you mentioned your mother but..."

"They both died when I was five."

"What is your name? Where are you from?"

"My name is Zoya and I am from a city called Zaofu."

Lin held her breath. Maybe Su will recognize the girl. Zoya followed Lin the entire way back to the central banyan grove tree.

"Now, you can let me can protect you, or you can wait for the thugs to come back," Lin said to the girl after launching herself with a column of earth onto the sky bison's head.

The girl used earthbending to launch herself onto the sky bison's head right beside Lin and wrapped her arms around the older woman's waist. "Just a fair warning. I don't like the sky, or flying." Zoya said nervously.

"Neither did I the first few times I flew."

"How did you ever get used to it?"

"It wasn't so much what I was doing, but who I was with. My boyfriend then was an airbender and he knew I liked fancy caves and remote places, was constantly searching for new places to show me. Many were only accessible by his glider, so I had to learn to tolerate flying to spend time with him."

"It sounds so romantic!"

"It was, I suppose."

* * *

"So, where are we going now?" Zoya asked as Lin as the vast expanse of Earth Kingdom passed below them

"To Ba Sing Se. The leader of the Metal Clan is there. I was wondering if she'd recognize you," Lin answered.

Zoya gaasped. 'No! What if she is angry with me?"

"Why would she be angry with you? You are a child. What could you possibly have done to make her hate you?"

"I don't know. I just... I don't know. My mom- never mind."

The girl was afraid of something. Lin could feel her tiny heart racing even through her metal armor.

Ba Sing Se looked so different. The walls remained separating the rings but had massive platinym gates in between. Airship receiving decks were constructed atop four points on the walls separating each of the rings. The lower ring looked so much better. Almost nobody was living on the now paved, swept streets of the lower ring. The artisans in the middle ring looked siil and moderately busy while the upper ring felt like a ghost town. The nobles often preferred to keep to themselves in their own homes, safe and away from the chaos in the world.

They landed on the front steps of the Palace in Ba Sing Se, and were immediately greeted by a wall of Dai Li Agents, backed by a wall of Suyin's personal Guards from Zaofu.

"I am Chief Lin Beifong of Republic City, here to see my sister, Suyin," Lin told them. Zoya clutched Lin's leg through her skirts even tighter.

"Prove it!" One of the Zaofu Guards ordered.

Lin lifted both arms out then stomped her foot and threw her hands up launching them all off of the steps up tot he gates of the palace and walked right inside to the throne room.

"So Baatar's on the throne now?" Lin asked folding her arms, leaning on one leg.

"Lin! You're here!" Suyin exclaimed rushing over.

"It is not a throne anymore. We're thinking of converting the entire Palace into a National Museum and capitalizing on admission tickets, then using the proceeds to rebuild the entire lower ring!" Baatar informed Lin.

"Great Great, Su, I was wondering if you recognized this little girl. I found her in the swamp."

"Lin," Suyin frowned. "You can't just keep a child you find in the swamp!"

"You kept Kuvira when she was eight,"

"That was different!"

"Not really!"

:Anyways, What makes you think I would recognize this girl?"

"She says she was from Zaofu,"

"Who were your parents, little one?" Suyin asked taking a knee in front of the young girl, completely taken by her.

"My mother was a soldier and my father was an amateur inventor. One of his designs failed and killed him when I was two. Then, my mother was captured when I was three, and when I got out of bed one morning, I was no longer in Zaofu and the Terra Triad had found me. They kept me because my eyes were green and they said they could use me. They told me I would be the next avatar, but I didn't understand because my mother said that I would never be able to bend anything," Zoya explained.

Suyin studied the girl's face for another moment then stood and took her sister's hand. "Zoya, will you excuse us for a moment?" Suyin asked walking a few steps away. "She's lying. Not completely lying, but there are definitely holes in her story. Just feel her heart when I ask the next question. It seems she's had some training against truth-seers, but the training was incomplete and she still falters when she speaks."

"What was your mother's name?" Suyin asked.

Zoya thought long and hard and then began to cry. "I don't know her name. I only ever called her Ma or Mother or Mom. Even the two times I saw my father before he was killed, he just called her, 'my love' and then left again!" she cried.

Suyin looked hard into the girl's eyes trying to find a resemblance. She knew all of the guards in Zaofu and none of them had daughters seven years ago. She ordered a secretary to scour the records but there was no birth certificate for a girl called Zoya. But there was something almost frighteningly familiar. Her eyes. They couldn't be greener.

"At this point, all we can do is get her to trust us." Suyin shrugged after the girl was asleep. "She'll tell the truth when she's ready."


	6. Return to Republic City

**If you can spare a moment to leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated. I feel like this chapter didn't flow very well. I got in all the scenes I wanted but when I reread it, it felt a little awkward. Next chapter will have a lot of information though. Stay tuned:)** **  
**

* * *

Zoya remained silent the entire trip back from Ba Sing Se to Republic City including their twelve hour rest half way at one end of the Serpant's Pass to let Oogi rest. Lin didn't push her for any more information. _She will tell the truth when she is ready._ The girl crawled down from the saddle to Oogi's Head and slid over next to Lin as they circled Air Temple Mountain once before landing by the gondola to be closer to the house to unload some things that Suyin sent from Ba Sing Se.

"Let us help you, Chief Beifong!" Some of the Zaofu guards posted along the perimeter said rushing over.

"Don't worry it. It isn't much. Zoya can help me," Lin said looking down at the girl. The guards looked stunned but nonetheless return to their posts. "This way, Zoya."

The doors were so flimsy in Zoya's mind. _How could anyone be safe in a house made out of match sticks?_

"Police Headquarters has been in shambles the past few days. Saikhan has literally invited the Triple Threat Triad to turn in their leadership in return for asylum. The stupid thing is that the waterbenders have stopped disappearing. The gang is just shaken. And it's stupid for them to just hand over their leaders, because we won't know if they're real leaders or if they're just low-ranking decoys. The deal is just a waste of resources for the police department. He's an idiot!" Mako exclaimed running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Calm down there, detective!" Lin said setting down her bags. She looked up to find Kya, Bumi, Mako, Bolin, and Korra all in the living room with papers and folders strewn about the table and floor.

"You're back!" Korra said excitedly.

"With... someone..." Mako added.

"This is Zoya. She will be staying with us for an indefinite amount of time. I expect you all to treat her kindly and make her feel welcome. Zoya, will you stay here with Korra, Mr. Mako, Bolin, Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi while I go look for my- Tenzin?"

"Lin, stop depriving yourself. Just call him your boyfriend!" Kya said leaning back onto the couch.

Lin rolled her eyes at Kya who smiled and stuck her tongue out.

"You'll be back won't you?" Zoya asked.

"Yes, I will be back," Lin replied carrying the bags to her room before exiting through the kitchen, jumping off the balcony so she wouldn't have to go all the way around the main house.

"Tenzin!" Lin called jumping over the Air Acolytes landing right next to the meditating airbending master.

"You're back!" He opened his eyes and grabbed her.

"Woah!" She jumped back.

"Don't you remember what happened before you left?" Tenzin asked.

"Korra was saying something but I wasn't listening?"

"Excuse us," Tenzin said taking her wrist and leading her down a path behind the pagoda down to the caves.

"Ikki told me to kiss you and I did,"

"Right, I was trying to forget that,"

"Why?"

"Because you lost your wife nine months ago and it just felt wrong to-"

"Lin, I loved her, and I still grieve for her but I love you more. I have never stopped loving you."

"What about your children?"

"They probably love you more than they love me, at the moment. Lin, while you were gone, we had a family talk and, well... came to a decision that... Well, we all agreed that it would be in everyone's best interest if-"

"Just spit it out already!" Lin yelled folding her arms impatiently.

"I know this is long overdue, but Lin Beifong, will you marry me?" Tenzin asked opening his hand to reveal a black stone pendant on an earth kingdom green ribbon with the air nation symbol embedded into the earth kingdom carved into the stone with the indents painted with gold.

Lin just looked at him. She didn't doubt the children wanted it as well, but still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Pema. Lin wondered how she would feel if she saw from wherever death took her. Would she feel used like Lin felt when Tenzin left her? Was she just his childhood entertainment as he took her childhood? Was Pema just a baby-maker used to begin rebuilding the Air Nation.

"Please, Lin?"

"I-" Lin hesitated and looked around. Nobody seemed to be around. The air acolytes were too far up the cliffs to hear over the winds that surged through the mountain range. She shifted her weight to slide her foot across the ground to feel for anyone else's presence.

Sure enough, the four children were lurking in a nearby bush waiting for her answer. So they did want her to be part of the family?

"Lin, I know I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I regret none of them. I still have four beautiful children, and I still have you. If you didn't want to be here, you would have left already, but the fact that you're here, and you care for us so deeply,"

"Tenzin,"

"Your sister even sent guards from Zaofu to protect my children as if they were Beifongs, Lin, Please!" He begged.

Lin could feel the five hearts in proximity all pounding rapidly and erratically. She wanted to say know out of fear of being hurt again by someone she loved so much. She wanted to say no so the triads wouldn't put a bigger target on Tenzin's children as some of the last airbenders in the world, and immediately connected to the Chief of Police. Her conscience listed a thousand reasons to say yes, and ten thousand reasons to say no.

In an instant, just as she felt a tear sting her eye, Lin reeled back in her confusion and kicked the ground, causing a pillar to jut up and jab Tenzin's leg with the elevated knee and knock him onto his back as she turned hers to him. Tenzin recovered quickly and brushed it off. The average person would see this and think it was rejection, but Tenzin knew Lin. A 'no' meant 'no' and she hadn't said 'no'.

* * *

Little Lin was probably eight years old, and Tenzin nine when she challenged Tenzin to another sparring mach.

"Earth versus Air, Baldy! Let's go! Even with your new fancy dancing technique, you can't beat me!" Lin yelled.

"You're on!" Tenzin replied.

"Are you ready to get your butt whooped?!" Lin taunted as they stepped in a circle, Tenzin with open hands, and Lin with closed fists.

"I doubt you can even catch it!" Tenzin said jumping on an air scooter, riding in circles around her.

"I see you have learned a new technique. Well so have I!" She said jumping and liquefying the earth below her into a running board as she chased after him around the island. She was almost close enough to catching Tenzin, but not quite very adept to multi-tasking. She struggled to command the earth in multiple ways at once. She decided to try anyways and shot her fist up in her running position as a rock arm grabbed the foot on his air scooter and yanked him into the ground. But that basic move outside of running threw off her concentration and she off of her liquefied running earth mound and right into Tenzin accidentally dislocating his ankle as she crashed into him. But she didn't noticed and jumped off as soon as they made physical contact and flung a boulder at him, bruising the arms he used to shield his face, unable to evade with one useless foot in the ground, and he started wailing. Lin furrowed her brows in confusion, then saw the angle of his ankle.

"Tenzin!" She stomped her foot and released his from the ground, but he didn't stop screaming. He just held his leg and elevated his twisted ankle. She quickly debated having the ground swallow it up again to at least keep it still instead of letting Tenzin dangle it there, shaking slightly with the rest of his body as he wailed like a wounded hog-chicken. Just as she was about to do it, Katara and Toph ran out of the main house, Katara already with water encasing her hands ready to begin healing her son.

"This happens every time they spar!" Katara sighed dropping by her son.

"Sorry, Aunt Katara," Lin said more out of obligation than remorse.

"Every time? Really?" Toph said, her interest piquing.

"Yes," Katara sighed.

Toph laughed.

"Whats funny about that?" Lin demanded, folding her arms, frowning at her mother, moving to stand as close to Tenzin as possible without stepping on him, and as far from her mother as possible.

"I think someone has a crush!" Toph explained.

"Huh!" Both Tenzin and Lin jumped, Tenzin regretting it instantly as his ankle still wasn't set again.

"Toph could you-" Katara began. Toph lifted one hand and little earth tripods pulled Tenzin back down to the ground so he would lay still for his mother to heal him.

"I don't have a -"

"Oh please, Linny! Sometimes I wonder if I am really the blind one in this family. Look at yourself in your little fury. It doesn't even take a truth seer or a earthbender at all to be able to feel your heart racing. And violence is how we show affection in our household, AND these little sparring matches seem to be becoming more and more frequent, aren't they, Little Linny?" Toph asked punching her daughter in the arm, a smirk etched across her own face. Lin was fuming. She turned to Tenzin.

"Sorry I hurt you," She said looking at him before breaking off into a run, as far away from them as the island allowed.

A few hours, he found her in one of their secret caves. Some of them Tenzin had found and some of them, Lin carved out herself.

"I'm sorry for agreeing to spar you," Tenzin said looking at her couched up form on the ground, her little chin perched between her knees. "...today." he added with a goofy little smile that reminded everyone so much of Aang in his youth. "Would you like a rematch?" He asked.

"But..." Lin stuttered. At the time, Tenzin didn't understand why Lin was crying. Later he learned it was because what Toph said was true and Lin wasn't quite sure what to do with a crush. The thought of loving someone felt like weakness to her. She feared becoming dependent on another.

Tenzin dropped down beside her and put an arm over her back. She squirmed a little, unused to that type of physical contact.

"I'm okay with sparring. You never do anything my mother can't fix. Besides, it is good to keep her healing in practice since she no longer works in the hospital," Tenzin said with a smile.

Lin still looked down. He dropped his arm from her back and replaced it by his own side and she looked up at him, almost mad. He lifted an eyebrow and she soon realized what just happened. She liked his touch. In one impulsive movement, Tenzin threw both arms around her and kissed her cheek. She pushed him away and moved a hand towards his face, sending a rock straight at him, breaking his nose.

"What was that for?!" Lin yelled jumping to her feet as Tenzin tilted his head back to slow the bleeding.

"That? That was how we show affection in MY family," he said. He didn't cry this time that she injured him, and she immediately felt sorry for doing it.

"Oh," was all she said. She walked over to him and helped him to his feet. Rather than try to scale the cliff side outside the mouth of their cave, she punched a hole right through the roof and raised the ground below them to the surface of Air Temple Island and walked him into the house back to his mom. At least he didn't cry this time.

* * *

Tenzin noticed her folded arms, her closed eyes and her lack of refusal and proceeded with his plan. He walked over to her, going around the pillar and wrapped his arms around her body in a one-way embrace. He realized why she had turned away. She didn't want his children to see her cry. He cursed at himself for forgetting about her seismic sense, but they wanted to see the proposal. He wiped the tears from her face with the edge of his cape and moved her hair aside softly stoking her neck.

He ran a finger from the back of her ear to her scar, tracing her jawline, then ran his finger under her chin and along the collar of her armor. She took a deep breath and lifted one hand off her arm just enough to curl her fingers into a fist, effectively uncurling the metal collar of her armor so Tenzin could put the necklace on her.

"I don't understand either of you now," Jinora said as they began to walk back to the main house on Air Temple Island.

"Why?" Lin asked.

"You just injured my dad! How does that translate to 'Yes'?" Jinora asked.

"It is just how I show affection," Lin replied shrugging her shoulders, walking with Tenzin's arm wrapped tightly around her body, their long, tall strides, perfectly synchronized as they had been since they were children.

"Does this mean you don't actually love us, because you've never hurt us?" Ikki asked with a puzzled, genuine concern etched across her recently depressed face.

"Ikki, when you're strong enough to really spar with me, you'll find out just how much I love you, in the Beifong way" Lin said bending down to look her in the eye. "Until then, we'll stick with Tenzin's method of displaying affection."

"But that will be never, because I will never bend again," Ikki replied with an anguished tone of defeat.

"You don't need to be a bender to be an incredible and strong fighter," Lin replied picking her up, kissing her head.

Tenzin watched with admiration. As soon as Meelo was born, Ikki became 'too big' to be picked up, but Lin was strong. She could carry any one of the children as if they were babes lighter than the air they bent, and could love them to the world and back.

* * *

Jinora was the first one through the door of the main house.

"Aunt Kya, can you heal Daddy's leg?" Jinora asked.

"What happened to it?" Kya asked pulling water out of a sack on a sash over her torso.

"Apparently that is how Aunt Lin says 'yes'?" Ikki replied as Lin set her down.

"Woohooo! You finally asked her, Little bro?" Bumi cheered. Everyone clapped except Korra and Zoya, whom Lin saw kneeling across from the 'current avatar'.

"Lin, who are her parents?" Korra asked, interrupting the celebrations. Lin bent down and Zoya ran to her.

"Only she can tell us when she's ready," Lin replied. She turned to Tenzin with a hand on the child's head. "Tenzin, this is Zoya. I found her starving in the swamp. She will be staying with us for a while."

"What?" Tenzin looked shock, then his shock turned to hurt.

"What's-" Lin asked.

"Can we speak privately?" He asked.

"We can talk here!" Lin replied, her tone changing to the dangerous one that was so normal for the Chief of Police but not for the Lady, Lin Beifong.

"She looks just like you!" Tenzin said sounding slightly disturbed.

Both she and Zoya looked at each other then back at Tenzin with identical scowls and furrowed brows and those brilliant green eyes and their right arms folded over their left. Everyone else saw it too.

"But you went to Ba Sing Se, Suyin didn't mention anything about Zoya looking like-" Kya began.

"Suyin was to busy running around with Terra Triad to study her sister," Tenzin began.

"Oh yeah, and you had plenty of time to study me, I'm sure!" Lin rolled her eyes. "Zoya, Jinora, Ikki, come help with dinner.

"But Lin never cooks-" Korra thought aloud.

"She used to when she dated Tenzin," Bumi told Team Avatar.

"Lin, can we please discu-" There was a thud and a solid wall of earth tore through the wooden floor and covered the entrance to the kitchen.

"Sorry Dad!" Jinora called.

"Spirits!" Tenzin cursed storming off to his study. As soon as Tenzin was out of range, Lin removed the earth wall.

"Kya, can you tell me where you moved the sea kumquats and then go fiz your brother's leg?" Lin asked.

"Sorry, I put it in the cabinet above the cookie jar, because I forgot where I found it," Kya replied walking to Tenzin's study.

* * *

"Shouldn't the chief help us with the case of the Energy Benders now that she has returned?" Bolin asked Mako nervously.

"I am not deaf; you can continue your discussion!" Lin yelled from the kitchen. "... Jinora, manage the stir fry for a minute while I go get another bag of rice from storage, and Ikki, can you start a second pot for the stew? Zoya, you chop these..."

"And she's gone," Bolin sighed.

* * *

"So, your name is Zoya?" Ikki clarified looking down at the young girl.

"Yes."

"Where are you from?"

"Zaofu."

"Really? How did you end up in the Foggy Swamp?" Jinora interrupted.

"My parents were killed when I was really little, and the people who originally took me in became angry and left me there." Zoya said. It wasn't a total lie.

"That's so sad!" Ikki exclaimed.

"Well we're glad you're here now!" Jinora said with a forced smile.

Lin returned with a fifty pound sack of rice and set about washing it to cook to have with dinner.

* * *

"Well, this morning, we got a letter from Suyin with an observation on the near complete census of the earth kingdom. Four missing earth kingdom air benders. since yesterday. They couldn't make it official until the 24-hour minimum time limit before the people are officially considered missing persons, but still it is something worth investigating," Mako said.

"Well, neither of us can go, Mako, since missing earth kingdom citizens are outside our jurisdiction," Lin reminded him.

"Oh and Earth Kingdom orphans are within your jurisdiction?" Korra asked folding her arms.

"Watch your mouth, Korra, or you're sleeping in the streets of New Republic City," Lin threatened.

Dinner was tense and quiet. They didn't want the children to know the details of what was happening, but it was extremely difficult to keep them from finding out. Zoya remained silent the entire time, constantly glancing between Lin, Tenzin, and then Opal.

"The food is... great chief," Bolin said tasting the stirfry. Though Jinora stirred it, Lin had chosen all of the vegetables from the garden , and made the sauce from scratch.

"Why do you sound surprised?" Lin asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I uh... I just..."

"Spit it out already!"

"I just never thought you well... cooked. Mako had mentioned how you used to practically live in the police station and... I mean before you moved in with Tenzin and..."

"You do realize I had a life before Tenzin broke up with me," Lin replied reaching to spoon more of the vegetables into Zoya's bowl, then some into Ikki's bowl. Tenzin crouched down with shame and discomfort.

"The Sea Kumquat Stew taste just like how our mom used to make them!" Kya declared with surprise trying another dish.

"That is because she taught me how to cook," Lin explained with a smile.

"When was that?" Bumi asked. "I don't remember ever seeing little Linny within a league of a kitchen!" Bumi exclaimed.

Lin rolled her eyes then smiled. "There was a time when I was preparing to be a wife. My mother never really mentioned it, but didn't think she wanted me to end up like her, so I asked Katara to teach me," Lin replied. Everyone looked at Tenzin who just drooped even further with shame. They thought they would get married a long time ago, before Pema. But they drifted apart. Lin was private, and "busy" and Tenzin wanted a family. He never realized she had been preparing for both so diligently. She wanted to surprise him and he broke her heart into a million pieces, and she still never stopped loving him. Tenzin looked over at Zoya. When he first saw her, he thought she was Lin's from... someone else. If he were an earthbender, he would have buried himself in guilt at that moment. It was silly. How could he ever think Lin would love another? And Zoya was too young to be Lin's. But she DID look so much like his lady.

Lin wanted to jab at him, and so did Kya and Bumi, but none of them did and Lin couldn't tell if he was upset because of Zoya or because of the proposal or the sea kumquats.

"So, how was my Mom doing in Ba Sing Se?" Opal asked wanting to fill the silence.

"Very Well. Of course at her wits end with the paperwork and the royal cabinet, but its nothing she can't handle. Ruling Zaofu was definitely good practice for what she is doing now,"

Zoya watched. _So Opal's mom is Suyin and Suyin was Lin's Sister. Lin and Suyin had the same eye color but different eye shapes._ Zoya looked down at her own reflection in the blade of her fish knife. _But why do I look a little like the both of them?_


	7. Be Afraid

**Hope you enjoy this chapter:)**

* * *

The next day, Lin let Zoya accompany her while she trained the airbending children. She took Lin's place during demonstrations, following verbal directions, and going through all of the motions and forms. Ikki didn't want to participate since she lost her airbending, but Lin made her continue training regardless. That afternoon, Lin hired a weapons specialist to come train Ikki and Ursa in throwing knives and darts, and how to use dual swords and tiger swords.

"You have no excuse to not be able to protect yourself. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. Suki of Kyoshi Island and Smellerbee of the Earth Kingdom, Mai and Ty Lee of the Fire Nation all were great warriors and none of them, ever had bending." Lin reminded the two.

While they trained with the weapons specialist under Kya's supervision, Jinora, Meelo were left with Korra to practice airbending together while Lin took Zoya into the mountains to practice earthbending. The girl was excellent for her age. She was strong and fierce with earth. Lin gave the girl new forms and exercises to practice and watched and waited while Zoya ran through each assignment a hundred times before they headed back to the temple. Zoya then sparred with Bolin and Korra while Lin took over Jinora and Ikki from Korra.

Korra seemed to be rather aggressive in sparring.

"Is everything okay?" Mako asked approaching the avatar and the two earth benders asked noticing his friend's unusually heated approach to each match.

"No, everything is fine while the world conspires to replace me with some handpicked Avatar!" Korra said erecting a boulder eight times her own size in mass and launching it at Bolin who smashed it into sand. "They will only ruin the balance we have worked so hard to achieve by defeating Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, Kuvira, the Mech Man..." Korra said breaking up the ground with unevenness, knocking Bolin off of his feet.

"What balance are they ruining exactly? Come to think of it, though they take take some people's bending and grant it to others, maybe those others really needed it. Izumi didn't say the energy benders started a war. It was just an observation she noticed in her population." Mako asked sitting down to watch.

"They attacked the Multi Cultural Center and all of the world leaders the other night. They've united the biggest gangs in republic city! They're terrorizing the weaker ones. You heard Beifong and Kya's report!"

Mako frowned. "I was the one who reported it."

"The Terra Triad and Agni Kais are trying to get an earthbender to love water and air! According to them, she has no problem with earth and fire!" Zoya gasped. They all turned to her and she pretended to simply choke on a bit of dust she inhaled. They ignored her after that. "They want to create their own avatar because I'm not good enough!" Korra yelled. "I'll show them just how good I am!" She said sending an even bigger rock Bolin's way.

"Hey, knock it off! Don't take out all of your issues on MY brother!" Mako said jumping between them, destroying the rock with fire.

"If they want to send their avatar my way, I need to be ready to DESTROY him or her!" Korra said blasting fire at Mako.

"Excuse me," Zoya said looking up at Korra with horror marring her face. She ran. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her into the mountain range. She found caves and crawled inside as deep as she could, careful to feel the earth with her feet. She was extremely perceptive of the vibrations in the earth. Her seismic sense was nowhere near proficient, but she could get general layouts of places, just not details. She could feel a person coming but not be able to tell who, or differentiate heartbeats. She stayed in the cave the entire afternoon until Lin came home from work to find her weeping.

"They are right!" Zoya cried.

"Who is?" Lin asked bending down to the little girl, feeling her tear stained face in the complete darkness of the caves, monitoring the child's heart beat closely.

"The peope who took me off the streets! Korra is so-" she hiccuped. "Full of herself! She thinks she owns the world. She thinks that she can defeat those guys. She wants to destroy me! She thinks that just because she was born the Avatar, he gets to tell everybody what to do and how to restore peace and balance in the world. She thinks she is the solution to everything. Well, clearly people disagree and are displeased enough to try to make their own Avatar. But I just can't believe she won't even reach out to them or try to find out why they are so unhappy. It is like in her time, people are not allowed to think differently or be unhappy!" Zoya rambled through sobs and hiccups.

"Zoya!" Lin picked up the small child.

"I don't want to fight Korra. If she finds out what they have done to me, she will kill me. But somehow, I want to help her become, I don't know, nicer? There comes a time when confidence becomes conceit and... I don't know what to do anymore. If she sees me bend fire, she will kill me!"

"I won't let her lay hand, pebble, drop of water, flare, or even a brush of air on you. I promise. She can never hurt you."

"What if she will call you a traitor? What if she makes you her enemy too for harboring me? You are so kind and those men seem to have good intentions, but I was unwilling to assist them in their quest to replace Korra! I am afraid!"

"It is okay to be afraid. Only when you are afraid, can you truly be brave. I have something new for you to play with," Lin said taking a lump of a meteorite out of her pocket and placing it into the girl's little hands. "So you can start metalbending. Just focus on the bits of earth within the metal. Just feel for it." She picked up the small child and put a hand over the back of the girl's head. Zoya hid her face in Lin's neck as they walked back towards the main house of the temple in silence, in the moonlight.

* * *

The next morning, Zoya was walking along the path to the meditation site at the top of the mountain peak while humming a song about a badgermole and a gofermink when she felt someone coming towards her. She tried to knock the strangers off the mountain, but they didn't roll down the steep slopes or bounce off the ledges. They just earthbent their own outcrop to save themselves and came towards her again. As he got closer, she recognized his weight, and his age then, even though he was hidden in the bushes. She ran. She picked up more people on her tail as she ran up the mountain. The stranger tried to trap her foot with little earth cavities, but she was quick and responded quickly, jumping to avoid them, agile as the airbenders that Lin trained one and a half days a week.

"We're not going to take you back to the swamp!" the stranger yelled launching himself into the air, landing in front of her, knocking her down and grabbing her shirt then both of her hands. She kicked fire at him, but he just grabbed her legs as well, both of her ankles fitting in one of his fists. He spun her around in his grip, turning her away from him so she couldn't even roar fire in his face.

"We just wanted to talk and give you some things. In fact, we are glad you are here. This might be the perfect environment for you to train in. Here you have Kya, a master waterbender to teach you, and Tenzin, the master airbender. It could not be more perfect. When the times comes, Korra will be at your disposal. You have a good heart, Zoya, and if you really want what is the best for the world, you will take her out as soon as you have mastered the four elements. But before we let you go, we have a delivery for you." the earthbender said. As soon as he let go of her wrists and ankles, a waterbender seized control of the blood in her body, immobilizing her. The earthbender walked in front of her, and energy bent another person's bending into her small body. Air. She could feel it but knew she wouldn't be able to bend it. The blood bender knocked her unconscious and they left her there on the mountain side on the dirt path leading to the meditation site at the peak.

* * *

"Guys! Guys! I found her! I found Zoya!"a voice yelled. Zoya opened her eyes wearily to see the handsome firebender boy who now worked with the police.

"Zoya!" Bolin and Korra yelled sliding down the mountain side, dropping onto the path just below her and Mako.

"You can't be wandering the mountain side alone with energy benders on the loose!" Korra insisted.

"I- I needed to get out. I just needed time. Where is Lin?!" Zoya asked.

"The Chief is still at work, she gets back in a few hours. Come back to the house," Mako said taking her wrist gently.

"I need to see her!" Zoya decided stubbornly, freeing her wrist from his lazy grasp.

"Why can't you just talk to us? She doesn't like to be bothered," Korra informed the girl.

"You wouldn't understand! I can only talk to her!" Zoya replied pushing them away turning towards the city, wondering how to best get down the mountain and to the city and then find the Police Headquarters once she got there.

"Zoya, you CANNOT leave the mountain!" Korra said firmly. Zoya slid back and threw a rock in the shape of a half donut to pin Korra's wrist to the mountain side. She ducked avouding Bolin's earthbending. Mako shot fire towards her with not enough force to hurt her, but with the intention of breaking her stance so he could grab her. Zoya turned sending it right back to him, but stronger.

They all stopped attacking.

"Did you just- firebend?" Mako asked.

They could see her tiny chest panting. In a moment of panick, she disappeared into the ground, covering up the hole behind herself and made her way through the mountain and into the city, straight into the Police Headquarter's building, punching a hole in the metal floor, climbing out covered in dust and dirt.

"Where's the chief?!" She demanded coughing out some shifty earth from her throat as an officer helped her up.

"Uh..." the officers didn't know what to think of an earth covered child crawling out of the floor.

Lin could feel the girl's racing heart from her office on the fourth floor and rushed down.

"Zoya! What happened? Why are you here?"

"I couldn't control it!" Zoya cried falling into the Chief's arms as the other detectives and receptionists and officers on the first floor watched in disbelief at the Chief's display of affection. Lin scooped Zoya off the floor and carried her up the stairs to her office on the fourth floor and closed the door.

"It is soundproof. You can speak freely here." she said to the girl.

"They found me! They gave me another bender's power: another airbender's power! And then they knocked me out. I don't know for how long. Mako and Bolin and Korra found me. I was so scared. I tried to get away, to tell you what happened, and they attacked me trying to bring me back to the temple. I pinned Korra and avoided Bolin, but Mako- he firebent at me, and I returned it! It was purely a defensive maneuver. I know, I am so stupid! I should have just used the earth to make a wall, to block it, but I couldn't! THey're going to tell everybody! They're going to hurt me!"

"Shhhhhhhh..." Lin said holding the girl in her lap, rubbing circles on her back, holding her against her armor. "Just breathe. You are not stupid. You are learning. You can't be expected to have perfect control of your bending as soon as you have it. Most avatars take years to perfect each element one at a time. You're barely seven years old. Just calm down, okay? You can stay here the rest of the day if you keep quiet, and then we can go home together and speak with Tenzin and Korra. How does that sound?"

"Alright, I suppose," the girl said sniffling and wiping her eyes.

* * *

Usually, Tenzin's children greeted Lin at the gondola when she returned home from work, but this evening, the Temple seemed eerily quiet. Zoya walked behind Lin, holding onto her leg as they made their way towards the main house. Lin retracted the soles of her metal boots to check. "We have company," she explained to Zoya as she pushed open the door to find the Fire Lord and the Premier of the Earth Kingdom among the residents of the main house.

"Why didn't you tell us you found the other Avatar in that wretched swamp?" Suyin demanded sitting back on one of the couches with her arms folded and one ankle perched on her knee. Fire Lord Izumi sat beside her, regal as ever with her back straight, and a saucer and cup of tea in her hands as she gazed over her reading spectacles to look at Lin.

"Korra told us what you did, protecting her, taking her in as your ward. Are you working with them too?" Izumi asked.

"Have you taken my place with the Terra Triad?" Suyin asked.

"Listen, Look!" Lin took a second to pinch the bridge of her nose before beginning to explain. "Zoya is seven years old. I have talked to her. She doesn't even want to be a bender, let alone a bender of all four elements. The energy benders found her when she was three and forced her to accept the power and train. She's just been a pawn in their sick game. Yes! I want to protect her from them, and apparently, I have to protect her from you too. We could all be on the same side if it weren't for Korra's daily declarations of wanting to kill the other avatar on the spot once found. I can see why the terrorists want a new avatar. Our current one is blinded by insecurities, hate and greed. We can't have an Avatar that thinks she can just waltz into any skirmish and automatically know what is best for the world. If we all went along with Korra, we would be murdering a child with so much potential."

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, stunned. Korra's jealousy boiled inside. How dare the Chief of Police insult the avatar. "Well, if that is how you feel," Korra took a stance and attacked with fire only to be blocked by the Fire Lord. Zoya ducked behind Lin.

"Stand down, Avatar Korra," Izumi said looking down pensively. "We can groom this child to work together with all of us."

"I don't want to be groomed by anybody!" Zoya yelled at the Fire Lord with the most determined green eyes. She did look a lot like Lin. "I don't want to solve the world's problems. I don't want to be traded like a gold piece or a trophy! I was born a non-bender. My mother was a prodigy who told me she was GLAD that I couldn't bend because then I wouldn't be expected to throw my life before anybody. She was glad I would be safe from the recruitment of the city guard and safe from the eaerth queen's Dai Li. She was glad I was weak and wouldn't be feared by anybody. We lived in PEACE together! I HATE bending and I HATE the responsibility!" the child yelled, making little earth quakes with each stomp of the foot. She roared fire then collapsed on the floor in a small mound of sobs. "In an instant, I would give back what they gave to me to the people from whom they stole the bending."

Lin bent down and held the girl in her arms.

"Poor thing," Suyin sighed leaning forward to reach out a reassuring hand on the small earth bender's shoulder.

"Poor thing? She is a tiny monster in the making!" Korra yelled.

"How do we know you're not the monster already made? The way you drew conclusions so damn quickly and twisted your words and phrases to make people hate really has me wondering if you are fit to be the Avatar. Do you really think a seven year old is a threat? It is the energy benders we should concern ourselves with since it appears it takes years to even create this little thing." Izumi said motioning to the girl.

"Zoya, would you like to help other children from being exploited like you were? Would you like to help save them from this fate?" Lin asked Zoya in a whisper, barely audible to anyone but the girl.

"Yes," Zoya whispered leaning on Lin's shoulder.

"When you are ready, could you tell us everything you remember about the group that took you off the streets? When you met them, what they said to you, what they looked like, what they did to you? It will help us find them and put them away so that they can't hurt any more children like you," Lin explained.

"Mhm," Zoya sighed once again burying her face in Lin's neck.

* * *

Suyin and Izumi stayed the night on Air Temple Mountain, eager to hear what Zoya had to say, but had to be patient. Both Lin and Zoya opted out of breakfast with the others to go meditate on the mountain peak.

"Who would have thought, two little earthbenders meditating by choice. Tenzin, you gotta step up your game." Suyin commented spotting Lin and Zoya beginning their descent down the mountain path.

"She is ready to talk," Lin announced. Mako went to fetch a clipboard, some papers, and a pen. He sat with Lin, Suyin and Izumi in the living room.

"My name is Zoya. I was born seven years and sixteen days ago in Zaofu. I don't know my mother's name but she was beautiful and young. Maybe too young. She was a soldier and hid me in our apartment because she didn't want her liege lord to be angry with her.

"She taught me geography and astronomy and basic self defense. She told me I was lucky to be born without bending. She said she was scared and didn't ever feel safe. She wanted protection since she was abandoned at a young age, but because of her bending prowess, she was made into a guard. She said she would set no bar for me and that it was up to me to find my passion and live up to my full potential.

"I was three years old when she took me out of my our apartment for the first time and on an airship. She told me that my father was an inventor who died after an experiment of his went horribly wrong. I was hidden in her private quarters on the air ship for a week. Then hidden in the room of a palace for a few months. Then hidden in a room on a train for two years.

"I was five years old when my mother left one morning and didn't come back. I woke in the aftermath of a battle in a city I had never seen, but didn't even know her name to ask about her fate. On my sixth day alone, the Terra Triad found me and gave me food and water and a place to sleep.

"They talked to me about how much they disliked the avatar and the metalbending police and the queen of Ba Sing Se and the Airbenders who got in the way of every change that the people wanted to initiate just to keep power in their own hands. They told me that the Avatar was self-centered, stubborn, and blind to reason. They told me time is an illusion and so is death. The avatar in Korra died during Harmonic Convergence and that the next Avatar had already been born in the earth kingdom. They told me that I was the next avatar even though Korra is still living.

"They put their hands here and here," on her forehead and neck "and the next day when I got scared I could earth bend. They told me I would be the next avatar and that I wouldn't be alone. They'd kill my spirit eventually and begin making the next one from some fire nation child. They said to be able to make a new avatar with energy bending, they still had to comply with the old avatar cycle. The claim that Korra started a new cycle one is a myth.

"What they did made sense at first, but then they became mean. If I didn't train, they wouldn't feed me. They gave me the earthbending of someone extremely powerful, I could tell. The strength felt familiar and easy to manipulate. The firebending of some prodigy, the airbending of a child next and the waterbending of someone on their death bed. It was weak and I couldn't use it for anything. I was blocked at air, so they tried giving me the airbending of a master, but it still wouldn't work."

Zoya took a deep breath and let her body slump as all she could remember came out.

"Do you think you may have Ikki's airbending inside of you?" Lin asked furrowing her brow and folding her arms as she stood behind Mako.

"I don't know. I thought the child's bending felt so weak. I thought all of Master Tenzin's children were becoming masters at prodigiously young ages. I never thought they'd be weak," Zoya shrugged.

"The Master must be Zaheer! He told you guys! When he stopped flying and you went to visit him, he said a bunch of stuff about how his bending was wasted on a prisoner and that he gave it up to the new avatar!" Mako thought aloud.

"If I do have Ikki's bending, I can try to give it back. It wouldn't be a loss since I don't know how to use it anyways," Zoya offered.

"Do you know how?" Suyin asked cautiously.

"I've seen them do it to others and to me," Zoya informed them.

"It couldn't hurt, I suppose." Lin shrugged.

So Zoya tried. She closed her eyes and focused inward on hers and Ikki's energy. She searched and cleared her mind of grief for her lost mother and found love in Lin who cared for her and protected her from everyone including the current avatar and fire lord and interim premier of the Earth Kingdom. She released the air chakra and bent the energy into Ikki's heart. She felt weaker but held on until the transfer was done then let go, stumbling slightly. Ikki stood up, took a stance and punched in the direction of the window and blasted a tornado of air. She gasped and hugged Zoya. "Thank you!"

Ikki and Zoya spent the rest of the evening playing in the corner of the living room. Ikki made tiny tornadoes, and Zoya juggled a handful of pebbles between her fingers.

"Excuse me, ladies," Mako said finding Lin and Suyin in the room that Izumi was using. "So I made a timeline of Zoya's movement from birth based on the locations I could decipher based on her descriptions and then jotted some notes on the people she knew..." Mako began.

"As you were supposed to. Just get to the point!" Lin snapped with her arms folded and her back leaning against the door frame.

"She was born in Zaofu, then lived in an airship and then a palace most likely in Ba Sing Se, and then woke up in Republic City to the aftermath of a battle, and all in in three years, beginning four and a half years ago. Is it just me or does that coincide with Kuvira's rise to power?" Mako asked.

"Kuvira didn't have a daughter!" Suyin growled dismissing the idea. "She was captain of the guard since she was sixteen years old. If she is Kuvira's, then Kuvira would have been pregnant at seventeen. I think I would have noticed nine months of there being two heartbeats in her body!"

"Maybe not," Lin thought aloud. "Zoya said her mother was afraid her liege lord would be angry with her for having a child, so she hid the girl. What if Kuvira used earthbending to stabilize whatever extra vibrations the additional heartbeat caused, effectively hiding the baby's existence?"

"I knew Kuvira was always a powerful bender with so much potential, but that just seems so... impossible." Suyin argued.

"Where is Kuvira being held? Why don't you just go ask her?" Izumi suggested.

"She's being held on a wooden barge in the middle of the ocean, guarded by fire and waterbenders, and no metal or earth is allowed within a two mile radius of her, since her bending is so strong." Mako informed them.

"Should we bring Zoya to identify her?" Izumi asked.

"I am inclined to say no, but I don't want to leave her anywhere after all that she has been through." Lin admitted.

"Then I guess we are bringing her," Suyin said stretching her arms.

"Shall we go in the morning?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Great, then, I am going to bed," Suyin yawned and walked down the hall to her temporary room on Air Temple Island.

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review if you have time. All comments, critiques, or suggestions are appreciated!**


	8. Lin's Decision

Lin, Suyin, Izumi, Mako, Kya, Tenzin, and Zoya all boarded a completely wooden boat with five royal fire nation guards and set sail for the wooden barge where they kept the disgraced "Great Uniter" locked up miles away from even the smallest speck of bendable dust. Most everyone stayed on the outermost deck near the boat dock while Suyin went to see her former protegé.

"Wait, Aunt Suyin!" Zoya called.

"Yes?" "Will I get to meet the person in this special prison?"

"No, I don't think so. Not yet."

"Then why am I here?"

"Would you have rather stayed at Air Temple Mountain with Korra?" Suyin asked.

"NOPE!" Zoya replied affirmatively scooting away from Suyin and back over to Lin.

For some reason, Kuvira looked weaker. Significantly weaker. "Kuvira?" Suyin asked waking the young woman from her slumber.

"Suyin?" Kuvira sat up with a start. "What are you doing here? You haven't come for over a year, I think... The days are all the same for me," Kuvira frowned and looked away.

"I have a few questions for you. Though your ideology was more or less extreme, I know you loved the people of the Earth Kingdom and you'd do anything to help protect it from outside forces," Suyin began

"Save your breath. I can't help you with whatever it is you need. I am of no use to anyone without my bending," Kuvira brushed off, laying down again.

"What do you mean without your bending?"

"I gave it away to help create a new avatar that would put an end to the idiot Korra's age. Or at least, that is what they told me they were going to do with it."

"Who is they?"

"A couple of guys named Guo and Bao. One was an earthbender and one was a firebender. They had a waterbending friend, Liao who remained by the boat while they took my bending and left me here.

"How long ago was this, Kuvira?"

"Shortly after I was put in here, after you all defeated me and my Mech. Korra foolishly opened that spirit portal. I figured my bending was of no use to anyone sitting in a cage so why carry the extra weight? I was glad to help make a change. It is for the better," Kuvira shrugged and placed her hands behind her head and crossed her ankles.

"I have one last question," Suyin said.

"Ask away. It's not like I can just leave you," Kuvira sighed.

"Did you have a child without my knowledge when you were seventeen years old?" Suyin asked. "A daughter."

The following silence was enough to confirm what Mako had suspected. A tear rolled down Kuvira's face as she turned away from her former mentor and metalbending master.

"They chose her to be the next avatar." Suyin informed the prisoner. "Your daughter."

"No!" Kuvira jumped off the floor of her wooden cell and punched the wooden bars, only to break her knuckles open, spilling her own blood as her face contorted in agony and her teeth seethed with anger."No! No! NO!" She was pacing now. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! My daughter is a non-bender- you are lying! Zoya would never fall for such trickery- she wouldn't let them! I told her to embrace not-bending. It was a burden that she shouldn't EVER have to carry!"

"Did a non-bending child really ever stand a chance against three masters, Kuvira?" Suyin asked her former protege. "She didn't have a choice. You left no record of her so when the gangs found her and took her in, no authority came looking. They forced her to accept bending and forced her to train or they withheld food and water. When she failed to airbend or waterbend, they abandoned her in the foggy swamp-just cast her aside."

"Like my parents did with me," Kuvira sighed, her voice quivering.

"Well, we have her now. We will protect her, but I can't say we will take away the bending she has now,"

"And why not? You have the current avatar don't you? Have Korra take away her bending. Let my daughter live in peace-Bao and the others can find somebody else!"

"She is too useful! When she's older,"

"You will exploit her for your personal security team just like you exploited me!" Kuvira yelled turning back to Suyin, gripping the wooden crossings of her cell with her bloodied fingers, green eyes glaring from behind a messy wall of tangled, unwashed black hair.

Suyin took a deep breath and opened her own eyes and looked at the little girl she thought she saved seventeen years ago. "We will do our best to keep Zoya safe from Guo, Bao, and Liao and then we will try to stop them from doing the same to other unsuspecting non-bending children. But we will need Zoya's help."

Kuvira's face fell and she let go of the wooden cell and slumped to the ground again as Suyin knelt beside her and reached an arm through a square opening and placed a hand on Kuvira's shoulder. She had become so thin in captivity. Kuvira brushed her overgrown bangs from her face and sniffled.

"May I see her?" Kuvira asked.

She's harmless. Suyin hesitated Kuvira, if she still wanted the Earth Kingdom, she could turn a young Zoya against her, easily.

"If not," Kuvira continued after the lack of response. "…may I make a request? Please, just don't treat her like a pawn in a game that you, yourself are not willing to play," Kuvira begged, slumping further to the floor of the wooden cage.

"I won't. I promise,"

Suyin took a deep breath and walked up the stairs away from the wooden cage to the docks where everyone was waiting. She looked to Lin and Mako and nodded. Lin subtly waved in approval.

"Zoya, would you like to meet your mother?" Suyin asked.

"She's alive?"

"Yes,"

"But why is she here?"

Suyin bent down and took Zoya's hands. "Your mother was a great warrior with good intentions. She wanted to unite the Earth Kingdom and bring structure, resources, and balance to even the most remote villages to those in need. She's here because she made a couple of mistakes along the way and certain things, can't be forgiven very easily."

Zoya looked like she wanted to cry.

"Maybe it would be best if we just leave," Lin suggested.

"No, I want to see her," Zoya decided wiping her eyes. Suyin took her hand and lead her along the deck to the wooden cage.

"MOM!" She broke free and ran, thrusting both skinny little arms through the square spaces in the wood, trying to hug her through the cage.

"I am so sorry! I had no idea they had chosen you for their avatar! It was never supposed to be! I thought another earth kingdom child would be chosen when I consented to giving my bending away,"

"You gave it away? But Mom! You were such a good bender, AND you used it to protect people!" Zoya cried.

"For a time yes, I used it to protect people, but I guess I just got carried away. It can happen even to the best of us. The power gets to our heads and we become victims of our circumstances. Zoya, promise me you will remain cautious. Never forget who you are. I know neither of us wanted to you carry the burden of being a bender, let alone the bender of four elements, but if that is what you will become, just— stay humble. Remember what it means to be human, to feel what others feel. Don't let the power get to your head, like Mommy. Zoya, listen to me, don't cry now. You're in very good hands with Suyin and Lin Beifong. Trust them." Kuvira reached a hand through the bars to touch her daughter's forehead with an open palm. She felt, familiarity. An unnaturally comforting familiarity even for a mother and her own child. "You have my bending now. Take it and run with it. I love you, my little badgermole. Don't grieve for me, I will continue to live in you, with you, for your earthbending was mine originally." Kuvira said wiping a tear from the girl's face, letting her own fall and splash onto the wooden floor beneath.

Suyin took a deep breath and placed a hand on Zoya's shoulder.

"We should probably go," Suyin said finally.

Kuvira slumped down on her knees. She understood. She had been tried, and would spend her life on that barge, with or without bending.

"I don't want to leave her," Zoya protested.

"Go, my sweet Ziyi. You are in very capable hands. You don't need me," Kuvira urged the girl forcing a smile upon her own face.

Zoya sniffled and nodded before letting Suyin lead her away.

* * *

 _Linny! Linny! I need you! I have a gift for you, and time is leaving us all very quickly! Linny!_

Lin woke with a start. She looked around the room. No one was there except Zoya, who looked practically dead after the emotionally draining day. Lin stroked her cheek. _She is Kuvira's? Who would have guessed? She is such a sweet little thing. Not particularly aggressive. Stubborn yes, and fierce, but kind, caring._

 _Linny! Linny! Come quickly!_

"Argh!" Lin hit her own head. "Leave me alone, Mom!" She said aloud.

"Huh?" Zoya's soft eyelids fluttered open.

"Shhhhh! I am sorry I woke you. It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep!" Lin said rubbing her back soothingly. She waited until Zoya was sleeping again before getting up.

"Suyin!" Lin whispered sneaking into her sister's room.

Suyin didn't stir.

"I see we are going to have to do this the hard way," Lin sighed. She bent five metal strips off of her arms and looped one around each wrist and ankle, then moved one towards her face, and in one swift motion, clamped her sister's mouth shut and pulled her from her bed, careful to not disturb a sleeping Baatar.

"I need you to watch Zoya while I am away!"

"What?" Suyin whispered, freeing one hand to wrench the metal off of her face.

"I need to go back to the swamp?"

"Why?"

"I think it's calling me,"

Suyin looked at her older sister skeptically.

"Your skills at perception are uncanny."

"Thanks for understanding!" Lin said kissing her sister on the cheek before fleeing.

Suyin went into the other room and took Lin's place beside Zoya.

* * *

Lin left Oogi under the banyan grove tree and followed her mother.

"There is something I need to tell you, Linny."

"How did you call me from all the way down here while I was in Republic City?"

"You'll find out how to do that thing soon enough, I expect..." Toph replied.

Lin furrowed her brows in confusion. That' mind thing. Wouldn't that be more spiritual? Not really earthbending.

"From here, I can see Republic City, Ba Sing Se, and Zaofu, you and Su. So I really don't feel any guilt about the gift I am about to give you, I mean, I don't need it anymore, right?" Toph began as they reached her little dwelling in the swamp. "It's wasted on an old lady living the rest of her days in the swamp doin' absolutely nothing," she said sitting on a rock bed. "but you? You're still out there, still fighting! For freedom, for peace. You need it much more than I do." she added waving her arms about wildly.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Lin asked only more puzzled than before.

"Linny, come here, close your eyes. You will see what I mean soon enough,"

Lin walked over obediently and knelt before her mother. "I know your eyes aren't closing!" Toph scolded.

Lin sighed and closed her eyes.

Toph placed one hand on Lin's forehead and the other on base of her neck.

"Mom, no!"

It was done.

Lin felt, different. Stronger. She closed her eyes and could hear the smallest spider fly caught in its nest a mile away. She see feel the smallest fire ant hauling a piece of organic debris into its nest. She could feel the world breathing.

"Mom?" Lin opened her eyes and up at her mother fraught with worry, but Toph was smiling.

"I know I never told you this when you were growing up, but I am really proud of you, Lin." Toph said through tears of happiness, peace.

"Wait!" Lin looked up at her now completely blind mother whose hands now rested on her shoulders for balance and a sense of positioning.

"Mom, what have you done?" Lin cried. "How will you see? How will you find food to eat?"

"I don't need food, Linny. My days are numbered anyways. I can already feel them slipping away. Help me move to that rock bed a bit deeper in the cave will ya? And make me a pot of tea before you go," Toph said.

"No, Mom! I can't just leave you here, like this! Let me take you to Republic City! Or the South Pole, to Aunt Katara!"

"So I can freeze to death listening to the Sugar Queen lecture me on how I should have been nicer to everybody? Nah. I'm fine here in my cave."

"I can't just leave-"

"Lin, you must!" Toph ordered, stomping her foot on the ground. There was no tremor, no massive earthquake. Even with heightened seismic sense, the stomp felt lighter than the step of a bird hopping towards a fallen seed. "Go! Keep _my_ bending, and give _your_ gift to somebody else in need. The world's evolving Linny and you must evolve with it!"

Lin found herself unable to leave her blind mother's side. Her truly blind mother's side.

"But who?"

"I don't know! Kuvira maybe. She did give up her bending to her daughter, didn't she? It only made sense that I did the same for mine-"

"What? Kuvira didn't even want Zoya to be a bender—"

"Yeah and I didn't want you to have the weight of a budding nation on your shoulders, yet somehow you still ended up devoted to Twinkle Toes Junior's offspring! Lin, just make me some tea!" Toph barked.

Lin hurried over to her mother's makeshift kitchen in the cave and lit a pile of twigs in the stone stove with a flint stone and heated the iron kettle with water.

"There should be some dried mushrooms and caterpillar-slugs in a jar somewhere over there, bring me a handful!"

Lin sifted through the array of mismatched containers on the counter tops and shelves. Most of the jars were empty.

"I hear a lot of fumbling around back there! Are you trying to find them with your eyes?" Toph asked.

It took a second for Lin to realize what her mother meant. She closed her eyes and felt exactly where they were in the earth. Behind the jug of water. She stomped her foot revealing the secret compartment in the wall of the cave. There only was a handful left. "Did you really not like me with Tenzin?" Lin asked as she dumped the dried mushrooms and grubs into one cup and poured the boiling water into another and then tossed tea leaves in a little steel basket to steep.

"Why else would I have given you both such a hard time?" Toph asked gleefully remembering all of the times she used to jab at them.

"Because you find great joy in other people's misery," Lin replied quietly.

"You guys were so happy, but I knew it wouldn't last.

"Why not?"

"Because you're a Beifong, and I know you."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Would you have listened?"

"No," Lin sighed. _Mother was always right. Damn her!_

"Is the damn tea ready yet?!" Toph yelled impatiently. Lin took both cups and brought them to her mother. Toph blindly groped around the air before her for the cups and smiled once she found them. She took a deep wif of the tea and then set both cups beside her and started waving her arms through the air, looking for Lin.

"I'm here," Lin said taking her mother's hand in hers.

"Thank you, Lin, for being an amazing daughter. Now get back to Republic City! I won't have you become known as the Chief Of Police Who kept slacking off to go vacation with the swamp people!" Toph said laying down with a mouth full of dried mushrooms and caterpillar-slugs in her mouth.

"How do I get out?" Lin asked.

"You tell me! It would be a lot easier to 'see' everything if you just stopped thinking for once!" Toph grumbled crunching down on the exoskeleton of some beetle.

Lin grimaced and closed her eyes. She could hear so much activity, so much life. She searched for Oogi in the mess of noise that surrounded her feet, and saw him, swarmed by people. Poachers!

"Hurry!" Toph yelled.

Lin lifted one foot and moved the earth beneath her with a strength she had never experienced before. The trees split and parted to give way for her to to sail through them on atop a mud slurry. She nearly crashed into Oogi who roared upon impact. As soon as her feet touched the muddy swamp again, instinct took over and a dozen poachers were launched into the canopy by earth pillars that erupted from the ground. She closed her eyes and listened as the others came. Four waterbenders, and two firebenders. She created a barrier around herself and Oogi like a giant bowl and fashioned the sleeve of her armor into a sword slicing through the cords that held him down. She launched herself onto his head and took the reins between her toes as she she bent the earth below her to come.

"Yip Yip!" She yelled holding onto the rock bowl of earth with them as a shield as Oogi took flight.

She could feel her arms struggling to keep hold on the rocks beneath her. She could hear the fire hitting the bottom of her rock bowl and the water lapping at its sides. Finally, once they were high enough she let go and watched the massive rock bowl plummet towards the swamp. It broke through the canopy and came crashing down with a loud thump and the cracking and snapping of trees.

Lin's arms were shaking the entire ride back to Republic City. Before today, it would have taken her, Suyin, Wing, Wei, Bolin, and probably half of the metalbending police to lift something so heavy. How could she explain what happened to the others? She already didn't like the power. She already didn't like that strength that came with it. It was too much for one body to bear. Maybe bending was a burden not everyone needed to have.

* * *

When she got returned to Republic City, it was already night time. Lin knew even if she went to bed, she wouldn't sleep, so she flew right past the city to the wooden prison in the ocean.

"Kuvira!"

"Huh?" the disgraced metalbending prodigy looked up from the floor of her wooden cell. "Lin Beifong?"

"Get up! I'm busting you out!" Lin told her, bending her sleeve into a blade.

"But- Won't Raiko, Izumi, the other world leaders-"

"Kuvira, the Interim Earth Queen is my sister, the Fire Lord is my Best Friend, the leader of the Air Nomads, is my fiancé and Raiko is too busy shoving his own cock up his ass to bother trying to save anybody. We need you," Lin said slicing up the boards, extending a hand to the Great Uniter.

"But-"

"I also have a gift for you, but it will have to wait until morning."

"Halt!" The guards yelled appearing.

"Took you all long enough!" Lin yelled at them.

"Chief Beifong?!"

"Go home to your families. Your services are no longer needed. Kuvira will be transferred to house arrest and I will assume full responsibility for her actions from here on out." Lin told them. They shrugged and stood down.

"Why are you doing this?" Kuvira asked Lin as they approached Oogi.

"Because you can help us, and Zoya find these energy benders and stop them from hurting other unsuspecting children."

"But I can't even bend! I am useless!"

Lin sighed. "I just came from the swamp. My mother gave me her bending..." Lin paused. "And told me to give mine to you."

Kuvira looked like she wanted to cry, sitting in Oogi's saddle as he took flight over the water.

"But- I thought I gave metalbenders a bad name," she said holding onto the handles on the saddle, frightened of being so far from the earth.

"You had your heart in the right place even though your methods were questionable. You love the Earth Kingdom don't you? Well the world needs the Earth Kingdom, and the Earth Kingdom needs the world, so we gotta help each other out in times such as these," Lin explained.

"Does it hurt? To receive someone's bending?" Kuvira asked wearily, as she watched the world go by beneath them.

"No," Lin replied.

"Alright, I will help, or- I'll try," Kuvira said.

They flew for a while in silence until New Republic City came into view. "It is beautiful," Kuvira gasped.

"Yeah, it's just peachy, now keep quiet when we land and hope nobody kills you before we get you to your room. I haven't really told anybody yet," Lin grumbled as they passed over the city on the slope, and headed towards the Air Temple.

"And Zoya?"

"You can see her in the morning. She needs to rest now. I'm sure your reunion was already incredibly draining on the both of you," Lin replied firmly, sliding off of the Bison's head as Kuvira slowly climbed over the edge of the saddle and slid down clumsily.

Lin lead her into the girls' dormitories to a vacant room. "You can stay here. There's a bathroom through there. Why don't you get washed up before bed while I find some clothes for you."

"Will I have to dress like the Air Acolytes?"

"Spirits! No! Apparently Tenzin hoarded everything I ever owned when I lived here, up in the attic. You'll probably fit into some stuff up there. Don't worry, it's pretty much all green and black. And, it would be best if you don't go wandering since no one knows I released you from prison and they might, well, panic." Lin reassured her as she began to head towards the main house to search the attic.

"Chief Beifong," Kuvira called after her.

"Yes?"

"Thank you,"

"Don't mention it, kid," Lin said putting a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment before leaving Kuvira to was off a year and a few months of dirt and grime off her body.

* * *

 **This was long. I didn't know if I wanted Suyin to let Zoya break Kuvira out of prison during the reunion or if Lin should do it later without the others knowing. I went with the latter because it gives more room to have more conflicts! (*grins evilly*)**

 **Don't forget to leave a review! I would love to hear what you think!**


	9. Training

The next morning was particularly stressful. Tenzin was off meditating, Lin was dealing with trying to feed a fussy four year old Rohan. Meelo and Jinora were fighting about something. Ikki looked almost as depressed as Huan for some reason. The Beifong Twins were not speaking, then Mako and Bolin, and Asami came in looking irritated with each other.

"I leave for a day and everything went to shit? This house is worse than the city!" Lin yelled. "Jinora, speak!"

"Well, Meelo and Ikki and I were racing and Ikki crashed her glider, and Meelo stole mine and then broke it and won't apologize and then the twins are fighting over a girl they met in the city yesterday and Mako and Bolin are worried about Korra but don't know what to do with her," Jinora explained. Lin shifted an angsty Rohan on her hip and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ikki, quit moping, we'll build you a new glider. Meelo, apologize to your sister for stealing and breaking her glider-"

"WHAT?!" Meelo cried.

"—And you will be doing all of the dishes for the week, Mako, Bolin, just give Korra space for a while, Wing, Wei, you could always share the girl, she'd probably never know unless you wanted to all do a threeso-"

"Lin! You're back!" Tenzin exclaimed returning from meditation. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck while everyone looked at them strangely. Beifong? Accepting public displays of affection.

"Are Izumi and Suyin up yet?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Tenzin replied.

"We're here," Suyin said appearing in the hall with Zoya and Izumi.

"Go get breakfast, I need to speak with Fire Lord Izumi and Suyin for a bit okay?" Lin said hugging the girl, then ushering her into the crowded dining room where two more tables were brought in to accommodate everyone.

"Jinora, could you watch Rohan for a minute?"

"Of course." Lin took Tenzin's arm and they walked with Izumi and Suyin outside, away from the crowds.

"Kuvira is here," Lin informed them.

"What?" Suyin gasped.

"I broke her out." Lin confessed.

"Why?" Izumi demanded.

"Because she has a good heart-"

"She plowed over the Earth Kingdom!" Suyin protested

"She had good intentions. You said so yourself. She just made some mistakes that can't be forgiven so easily," Lin said.

"I only said that so Zoya wouldn't freak."

"Well, she is not going to get to the Earth Kingdom and nearly nobody will know she is out. I will keep her on a very short leash. Her goals will be the same as ours. To protect other young non-benders from becoming other avatars," Lin told them. "What happened to giving second chances?" Lin asked Suyin directly.

"That is different,"

"I don't think it is. Besides, Mom seems to think we need her."

"You went to Mom yesterday? In the swamp?"

"Su, how do I put this? She gave me her bending, and it- its scary. The power of two benders in one body. She told me to keep hers and give mine to Kuvira. Of all the people in the world she's been stalking on those spirit vine channels, she specifically named Kuvira." Lin explained.

"Mom gave up her bending for you?" Suyin asked.

"She said it was 'wasted on an old lady living the rest of her days in the swamp doin' absolutely nothing'," Lin recited verbatim.

"When will you," Izumi hesitated. "Give Kuvira your bending?"

"I guess when she wakes up."

"Have you told Korra?"

"I don't know what to do with Korra. She never listens to us." Lin sighed. Tenzin put an arm over her shoulders and squeezed her against his body while she calmed down a little.

"Izumi, could you help Zoya with her fire bending today? Even just receiving my own mother's bending was overwhelming. I can only imagine the turmoil Zoya is experiencing with all of those elements in her tiny body. Can you teach her to control it better?" Lin asked.

"Yes, I would be glad to." Izumi replied.

"Chief Beifong, and-" the fifth voice paused. They turned and saw Kuvira approaching them, wearing some of Lin's really old clothes. She had on basic green caprees, a green short sleeve shirt and a brown tunic and green sash around her waist.

"Don't worry, I already explained it to them," Lin said breaking free from Tenzin's grasp to put an arm on the young woman's shoulder.

"You!" A voice yelled.

Izumi reacted first to the heat, sliding between the group and the Avatar as Korra bent a rage-filled blast towards Kuvira.

"Cool it, Avatar!" Izumi yelled splitting the blast with blue flames.

"Says you, blue lightening!" Korra replied walking towards them, her eyes set on Lin.

"First you harbor the false avatar and then you bring back the Great Uniter behind my back?" Korra yelled. "It is like even when the world is on my side, it is against me!"

"Korra!" Tenzin called.

"Korra, the world is a vast place filled with many different people, different beliefs and customs. Never is everyone for or against anyone completely," Izumi argued.

"And by the way this is MY home now, not yours! You are a guest. I can harbor whomever I want here! You may be the Avatar, but you have NO authority as soon as you step off that gondola and onto my property!" Lin clarified for the Avatar.

"Korra, people change, remember. I used to be a pledged member of the Terra Triad, I used to be a pirate, I used to be a sandbending nun. Now I rule the Earth Kingdom. Give Kuvira another chance," Suyin said calmly, shocking them all.

"Su! You were the one championing for the death sentence!" Korra yelled in disbelief. Kuvira's face faltered slightly.

"Korra, enough of this nonsense! Kuvira is here because my mother told me to give her my bending-" Lin explained.

"Wait! What?" Korra asked struggling to wrap her head around everything. "Are YOU working for 'these energy benders' now too?"

"Of course not! You can't say 'these energy benders'. Apparently not just anyone can't bend the energy within. It only helps if you've had it done to you or if you've done it to others." Lin replied.

"Because to bend another's energy, you must first make your own unbendable." Tenzin added.

"I still don't understand why we need Kuvira of all people? I'm the avatar! I can handle this myself!" Korra yelled.

"No you can't! Like Fire Lord Izumi said. The fire nation couldn't contain their problem. They couldn't handle it on their own, just as you can't handle the world on your own... And frankly, at the moment, it appears you can't even handle your own nerves, let alone the safety of others. What have you been doing the past few days while we are tying to find the base of operation and methods of operation for these energy benders? Acting out a scene with your girl friend then moping around MY mountain about how bitterly unfair your life is right now? Well suck it up, kid! My mother said the world is changing and we have to change with it just like Su said about the earth queen. You can't fight the energy benders alone, and we can't be the only ones helping you!" Lin ranted.

Korra stood there stunned with tears in her eyes.

"Deep breaths," Tenzin said separating the two.

Kuvira stepped up. "Korra, I know I have made some mistakes in my past, but I do love my nation, and my nation needs the other four nations to survive for it to thrive. I am willing to help however I can to protect people like Zoya from being exploited for their potential I want them to be free to pursue what they want and to not have responsibilities forced upon them before their time. Bending is a burden that some people really don't need in their lives. People change, have changed, I have changed. So why do you continue to let my existence torment you? Why do you give me, a helpless non-bender the power to mess with your head?" Kuvira asked. "I thought you were stronger than that," Kuvira added as an extra jab at the Avatar's already shattering ego.

Korra looked at her dumbstruck then retreated to her room to cry.

"Was I too harsh?" Kuvira asked.

"You only spoke truth," Izumi replied.

"Kuvira, kneel," Lin said turning away from Tenzin's embrace again, with her arms still folded.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tenzin asked her.

"Kuvira, if you try to do anything stupid, we will destroy you," Lin said to the young woman.

"I know," Kuvira replied miserably.

"Yes," Lin said to Tenzin before returning her attention to Kuvira. "As much as my mother infuriates me, I trust her."

Lin unfolded her arms and placed a hand on Kuvira's head and neck and closed her eyes.

It was done.

"Well?" Lin asked.

"Think fast!" Suyin said raising a rock the size of her own head, chucking it at Kuvira.

Kuvira jumped back and held her arm up. The rock shattered, but so did she as she shook her hand seething.

"Sorry," Suyin apologized immediately.

"We'll take you to Kya to get your wrist healed," Izumi said lending a hand.

"What was that for?!" Lin asked Su.

"That was how we always started training!" Suyin shrugged casually.

"I appreciate your willingness to resume training with me, but it has been over a year since I have been able to feel the earth, let alone bend it. So much has changed." Kuvira said holding her wrist as Izumi walked her inside.

"Mama!" Zoya ran up to Kuvira.

"Kuvira?" Both the twins looked up.

Before Kuvira could speak, Tenzin pushed past them with Lin.

"There will be no more questions asked of Kuvira. After breakfast you will ALL meditate, then we begin training," Lin told them all.

"But I've already passed my mastery exams." Wing and Wei said curiously.

"And I already have tattoos." Jinora added.

"There's a new definition of mastery in this house hold, you have to be able to best Tenzin, and Me at the same time. But we will start with just me or Aunt Su, since your dad's a little rusty," Lin said to Jinora before picking up Rohan to change him into his day clothes and fix his hair.

* * *

Kuvira felt like she had to relearn earthbending all over again. Her control of metal felt alien, and her control of rocks felt heavy. The acute seismic sense that Lin had was completely overwhelming Kuvira's senses. She wasn't accustomed to feeling such minute vibrations. Her head spun as it tried to differentiate what was happening in the visual world the actions occurring on it.

"Don't try to turn it off. If it becomes to much, just close your eyes. Looks are deceiving sometimes." Suyin said sitting beside Kuvira who sat with her bare feet rooted into the ground, and her fingers curling around the lip of the stone fencing.

"Ready?" Suyin asked her former pupil. Lin, Zoya, Korra and Bolin stood by just in case. Kuvira was nervous. Suyin uncurled an arm and flung a strup of metal at Kuvira's face, blinding her.

"Leave it there. Listen to the earth. Don't let in the distractions," Suyin said moving her right foot back, lifting her right arm straight behind her with her left hand in front, elbow bent slightly across her body. Kuvira's stance was more closed, fists kept closer to her face while Suyin had open palms, waiting ready.

Lin folded one leg over the other knee and leaned her hands back on the stone bench. Korra leaned forward, squinting. Bolin chewed his nails nervously and Zoya folded her arms in her lap and sat up straight.

Suyin struck first with a rock towards Kuvira's head. She slid to he right then stepped back ducking under it. Then returned a punch and a rock which Suyin caught, turned and returned. Kuvira did a one handed back walkover scooping a chunk out of the arena with her foot. Suyin sucked and swept the ground, knocking Kuvira's feet out from under her.

She threw the blindfold off of her face.

"Listen to the earth," Lin reminded Kuvira from the bench. "You know Suyin. Try to predict her motions. See where her feet are, her stances. How she recoils and strikes. You can know what she will do based on her preparation.

"I'm trying! It's been over a year and a half since I have bent felt the earth let alone bent it!" Kuvira replied.

"No excuses!" Suyin said striking Kuvira from the side. She yelped in pain and fell over, getting up slowly.

"Take a break, Bolin, you're next." Suyin called.

"Huh? Me?" Bolin gulped.

Korra grabbed his shirt and threw him off the bench, towards the Interim Earth Queen.

Suyin blindfolded him.

"No no no but I've never haaaaaaaad seismic sense!" Bolin yelled as Suyin launched him straight up in the air with one uppercut. "Oof!"

"Avatar Korra, you're up!" Suyin said pushing her hand aside effectively throwing Bolin back towards the benches as he yelled in terror.

"Beifong women are scary!" Bolin sniffled to Korra as she stood up and walked towards Suyin.

Korra didn't get a blindfold.

She started with fire which Suyin blocked a floating barrier and then slid her foot forward knocking Korra onto the ground. She did a kip up that Suyin smacked down with a hooked bolder. Then Korra tried water but Suyin raised a pillar to block its path and then she sent a cable to hook Korra's open wrist and fling her back at the benches.

"I agree," Korra sighed rubbing her sore behind.

"Zoya?" Suyin asked a little more gently.

The girl took a deep breath. Lin patted her on the back. "You're a Beifong. Beifongs can't be afraid."

"But you told me I can only be brave when I am afraid," Zoya replied.

"Just go," Lin smiled giving her a light nudge.

Zoya took a slightly looser stance on her feet like an air bender. She kept moving. Suyin started with metal which she moved back and forth, twisting and weaving. She hit a couple tossing them aside. Then Suyin grabbed the child's wrist and threw her behind. Zoya grabbed it mid flight and released herself and rolled opening to land on her feet again. She kicked and blasted fire at Suyin who raised a pillar to block it but when she lowered the pillar, Zoya was jumping right at her, knocking her onto her back. Su threw her hand towards the sky, her necklace wrapping around Zoya's waist, lifting her off. Zoya tossed that aside and did a windmill creating a ring of Fire then followed it with a string of rocks and pebbles of varying size. Suyin dove over the ring of Fire, then grabbed hold of all of the rocks and pebbles at once and cast them aside.

"When you send so many, you lose control on them," Suyin explained. "So as soon as they're in range, they're mine. It's like giving your opponent fuel," Suyin told her. Zoya tried kicking one large boulder. She was powerful. She had her mother's bending after all and Kuvira's control was one of the greatest.

Suyin struck it with an open palm, reducing the one ton mass to sand then lifted it like water around her, throwing it back at Zoya, knocking her down.

"Woah!" Korra and Bolin gasped.

"It's just sand," Suyin said still focused on her opponent. The little girl was getting tired.

"Go take a break," Suyin said to the girl.

"Oh so you show her mercy but not us?" Korra asked.

"She's eight years old, still a child. She shouldn't have to fight in this upcoming battle," Suyin said picking up a towel and a cup of water. "...if we are able to do things correctly."

"And yet she's the only one who could keep up with you," Korra muttered sadly as Zoya climbed into Kuvira's lap. "I really am the worst avatar ever."

"You know, you don't have to be. Rather than accept that you're the worst avatar, you could change. You could at least try to train and become better," Kuvira said.

"How?"

"Work harder? Train harder, actually listen to what's going on around you? Yes, you should listen to your advisors, but that doesn't mean you need to neglect yourself. Come on, you and me Avatar. We both have a long way to go before we're ready to save anybody," Kuvira said lifting Zoya off her lap, setting her on the bench while Su and Lin sat side by side, watching curiously.

"I guess it's a step," Korra said wearily walking back into the arena.

Kuvira was slow at first, but warmed up. She had more bounce in her feet as she bobbed and weaved through air, earth, water and fire. She waited until Korra was tired before striking which wasn't long. Then Kuvira struck first with a metal strip over the eyes, a sweep under the feet then a jolt as the earth threw Korra into the air, and a bolder hit her in the side and tossed her aside. Kuvira relaxed and pulled the blind fold off, appreciating Lin's seismic sense, and learning how to use it.

And Korra was winded.

* * *

 **So in terms of raw power, Kuvira's bending is strong enough for Zoya to be able to learn seismic sense and get the general layout of her surroundings, but Lin's bending is stronger and able to get layout, people, identities, objects, and insects within a certain vicinity, and Toph's bending is god-mode earth bending with a seismic sense range that spans pole to pole of the entire globe, only Lin doesn't know how to use it yet. But seismic sense can be overwhelming. I hope you enjoy this story... Eska coming soon and MAYBE an Opal/Eska showdown. Idk yet. Don't forget to review! Sorry if I always repeat this but I really want feedback!**


	10. Jinyu

Zoya was walking through a grove of purple trees and blue grass with orange flowers with blue thorns.

"Hi! I'm Jinyu!" a friendly voice called. Zoya turned around and saw a boy in fire nation clothes. He was about her age, maybe a little older.

"Hi?" she replied cautiously, not taking the hand he offered to shake.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Have you been here before?" the boy, Jinyu asked recoiling his hand.

Zoya shook her head. "Is it a dream?"

"No, it is spirit world. I like coming here. There are no battles. No pains. No people getting in the way of what's important..."

"What do you mean?" Zoya asked curiously.

"No training, no obligation, no responsibility. You can't bend in the spirit world. You're free. Take my hand and I'll show you." Jinyu explained.

Zoya was hesitant but thought why not. The scenery around them turned into a blur only for an instant before they found themselves in a marshy landscape with large stones littering a body of murky brown, shallow water.

"Just imagine where you want to go and you're there! See? It's so easy!" Jinyu said with a giggle.

"It's beautiful here! I could stay forever!" Zoya exclaimed skipping across a few stones in the water.

"Then stay. Spare yourself the troubled life of the mortal world. You don't need it," Jinyu said with a charismatic smile.

"Maybe," Zoya considered it. Huh, the spirit world.

They walked for what felt like hours talking about absolutely nothing.

"You're pretty," Jinyu said finally.

"Really?" Zoya looked up at him.

"Yeah," he took her hands in his. "Close your eyes,"

Then she felt herself flying, no not flying, falling. Zoya looked up and saw Jinyu in the distance standing on the edge of some curly cliff looking rather victorious and below her a heavy fog hid how far she were to fall. The fog of Lost souls.

"No!" Zoya screamed, and she vanished from the spirit world before she could make contact with the fog.

She woke up sweating, cradled in her mothers arms, and shaking all over. Tenzin, Lin, Suyin, and Jinora stood around the bed.

"You weren't alone in there," Jinora recognized immediately.

Zoya shook her head.

"Who was it?"

Tenzin asked.

"A Fire Nation boy. Jinyu. I-I think he know who I was. He tried to convince me to 'Spare yourself the troubled life of the mortal world'. Then he tried to throw me in the Fog of Lost Souls! I amost touched it! I was almost lost forever!" Zoya cried.

When the Fire Lord woke the next morning, Suyin told her, "Find a boy called Jinyu. We think he's the next one."

The Fire Lord exchanged a sideways glance with her daughter, Ursa at the sound of the name.

"We will find him." Izumi promised.

* * *

Royal attendants helped Izumi, Iroh and Ursa into their armor.

"Who will stay back In case we're all lost?" Iroh asked.

"Trust me, we won't be," Izumi said. They traveled in a tank, just the three of them to the northern coastal region of the fire nation.

"Why are we looking here?" Ursa asked curiously.

"We're not looking for the boy here. We're getting help." Izumi said. They knocked on a crooked wooden door casually tossed over the mouth of a cave.

"Who is it?" a raspy old voice of a woman called from somewhere in the cave.

"Zumi-," Izumi replied.

"What do you want?" the raspy voice demanded, not coming any closer to the door.

"We need help tracking a boy." Izumi explained patiently.

"What's on it for me?" the voice asked growing bored with the conversation.

"What do you want?" Izumi asked.

"Mmmmmm good question. I have food I have water. I can't think of anything else I need." the voice replied contemplatively.

"How about this? You help us find this boy, and I let you keep that food and water and not burn it to ash once we're through speaking." Izumi suggested.

"Fine!" The door flew open and a wrinkled old non-bender trudged out of her cave wearily.

"Thank you Aunt June," Izumi said stepping aside to let the white-haired leathery old bat pass.

"I told you to never call me that," June grumbled.

"But it's a pronoun of respect!" Izumi replied.

"Yes, but it makes me feel old!" the wrinkly lady replied. "Come on, Nala is back here. Do you have a smell sample?"

"No. But we have another way to tell your animal." Izumi assured the non-bender.

Ursa walked up to the giant shirshu and smelled her hand. But she was right here. It seemed confused. Ursa touched its snout outright and energy bent a memory, a subconscious memory, into the shirshu. It was when the boy snuck into her room. A waterbender blood bent her to stay still while a fire bender and an earth bender supervised the twelve year old boy. "Do it, Jinyu!"

"But she's a princess-" the boy said hesitantly.

"Once she is a master, the Fire sages predicted she will be the greatest firebender in history: a master of blue flames, white white lightening, and combustion bending! Hurry!" as he stole Ursa's bending. His smell. That boy, Ursa told the animal.

The shirshu sniffed the air and got antsy.

"He's not far. Maybe two days away, let's go!" June said clambering onto the beast.

The place was underground, naturally. They needed an earthbender!"

"Flaming shrimp-hawks!" Izumi cursed.

"Surround the area and get reinforcements." They can't stay under there forever. They need food and water like everybody." They can tunnel under any barricade with their earthbender," Izumi replied.

"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. You have their location."

Back in the tank, they radioed Air Temple Mountain.

"We need a team. We can't get to the hideout without an earthbender or preferably a metalbender."

"I can go," Korra offered,

"No, Korra, we'll send Huan and Kya over in case you need water too." Suyin decided.

"Huan's not even a fighter!" Korra exclaimed in frustration.

"He doesn't need to be. He'll just open the doors or turn over the mountain. That doesn't require skill. Only strength and creativity." Suyin explained.

* * *

"He was great Suyin! So efficient! So creative!" Izumi exclaimed as she disembarked, a small airship designed for small, stealth operations.

"I know!" Suyin cried hugging her grumpy son who couldn't look more miserable wearing crimson Fire Nation robes.

"Mom, Stop! You're crushing my individuality more than they already have!" Huan droned as his mother reluctantly removed her arms from around his body.

"We have him!" Iroh announced dragging a small figure in platinum chains off the air ship.

Suyin stepped forward and pulled the bag off of the boy's head.

He must have been about ten or twelve years old, relatively light skinned, with short, tussled, windswept hair that reminded everyone of Mako before he joined the Police Force. The boy scanned the gathered crowd, searching for someone.

"You're a traitor!" the boy yelled directly at Zoya who stood with her back against Kuvira, who's arms were wrapped protectively around her

"No! YOU'RE a traitor! You tried to turn me against my family! My blood!" Zoya snapped back.

"THEY are nothing but selfish hypocrites who claim to not believe in monarchies while continuing to rule Republic City AND the Earth Kingdom simply because they're BEIFONGS!"

"You've been brainwashed by the triads!"

"No! I've been enlightened by logic and reason! You should try it sometimes, thinking, that is. Oh wait! Your brain is probably made of stone since your mother fucked a rock!" He yelled. Zoya leapt on him, punching him in the face.

"Zoya!" Kuvira snapped two metal strips around her daughter and yanked her off the boy and back into her grasp with metalbending.

"You're weak and a waste of an Earth Kingdom Avatar! What you've failed to do in four years, I managed in six months!" He rolled back and airbent a disk of wind at all of them then broke out of the platinum handcuffs and bent it into a shiny ball hovering between his hands.

"Even you can't bend platinum, Chief Beifong!" Jinyu said bending it into a hundred tiny needles aimed directly at her.

"Well lets just say a lot has changed since the Earth Bending Elders tested _MY_ bending! I'm not completely me anymore," Lin replied stopping the needles mid flight, turning them around, sending them back towards Jinyu who tuned and aimed them at Tenzin. Kuvira pushed Tenzin out of the way, blocking the platinum needles with several metal strips of steel from her arm guard. She dove and rolled over the master airbender an onto her feet again and took a defensive stance.

Everyone quickly moved to surround Jinyu. Suyin, Lin, Zoya, Kuvira, Korra, Tenzin, Jinora, Ikki Meelo, Wing, Wei, Opal, Bolin, Mako, Iroh, Ursa, Izumi, with Huan, Asami, and Baatar standing on the outside of the ring.

"You're surrounded and outnumbered, Jinyu! Give up on this fight!" Korra ordered.

The twelve year old cackled with confidence. "You really **are** the worst avatar ever, Korra! A real avatar never gives up without a fight!" Jinyu laughed with his hands up. They all fired their various elements at him but he protected himself with a powerful air sphere, deflecting and returning everyone's own power back at them. They all covered their faces and broke their grip on the strike, but when the dust cleared, Jinyu was gone.

"Zoya, you have to master air and water, SOON!" Suyin yelled turning towards the eight year old girl making her flinch back in fear.

Kuvira swooped down between them and shielded Zoya from Suyin. "She's only eight years old! I couldn't even metalbend at eight!" Kuvira said holding Zoya back protectively.

"We just all need to calm down! We at least have an idea of what Jinyu is. We know he has mastered all four elements. We don't know if he's mastered the subsets. We can work on training Korra to be better and more... level-headed, and then Zoya," Izumi turned to her. Zoya gulped.

"What do you want to do?" Izumi asked kindly kneeling before the girl.

"I want to help! I do, but I don't know how. I am afraid I will not be strong enough."

"Any and all help is appreciated. You don't have to be the strongest fighter in the world. You don't have to bend all the elements. And you don't have to help if you don't want to. Before Aang, the avatar would not even be revealed to himself until the age of sixteen. You're not supposed to have all this thrust upon you now. Breathe, Zoya. We will do everything we can to help you. Izumi said to the girl.

Zoya sniffled. "Thank you, Firelord Izumi," Zoya said softly.

Kuvira brushed the scraggly hair from Zoya's face.

* * *

First thing Monday morning, Lin had to prepare a report to present to the council in a closed session that afternoon.

They wanted the names of the other avatars.

"The earth Kingdom Avatar has mastered earth and fire already but struggles with the remaining two elements. Her name is Zoya and she is already in my custody—"

"If she is in your custody, then why haven't you killed her already?!" Ranok, the new Southern Water Tribe Councilman demanded.

"Because there are City Procedures, Councilman Ranok, and they don't includ killing people we find just because they might be a threat and we are afraid. Anyways, Then the Fire Nation Avatar has mastered all four elements. He was in the custody of Fire Lord Izumi just long enough to get to us and show us that he has mastered all four elements. His name is Jinyu and he managed to escape,"

"How could you let this happen, Chief Beifong?!"

"I have no authority over Fire Nation Citizens, Ranok?!" Lin growled. "He was not mine to keep or lose!"

"Now, now, lets all just calm down, shall we?" Tenzin asked.

"I have a question for Chief Beifong. Why haven't you at least imprisoned the avatar in your custody for stealing other peoples bending?"

"Because she didn't steal it. The Agni Kai Triad, Terra Triad and Red Monsoons have been doing all of the kidnappings and transfers of energy. Zoya is an eight year old child who is frightened by her own bending. With proper training, she could work alongside us and Korra to fight the massive Energy Bending Super Triad, but now she's not ready." Lin said.

"We don't have time for her to 'get ready'! We need to act now!" the Earth Kingdom Councilman, Tozu yelled slamming his fist on the table.

"It sounds to me as if you're working with the triads to harbor this new avatar," Ranok suggested.

"If you have ever seen my track record, it will be pretty obvious that you'd sooner find me throwing myself into an active volcano than work with any of the triads and I am certain they would never want to work with me. I assure you, Zoya is no threat. It is Jinyu that is our highest concern at the moment. His loyalty is solely to the Energy Bending Super Triad. We still don't know how many other Avatars the Super Triad has created or is creating. The joint investigation in the earth Kingdom and Fire Nation with Interim Premier Suyin and Firelord Izumi is ongoing."

"Hmph." Ranok mumbled.

"Sorry I am late, everyone! What did I miss?" President Raiko asked throwing both doors open, rushing up to the table looking rather out of breath and disheveled, followed by a swarm of reporters.

"Everything," Lin replied bluntly. Following the president was a bunch of reporters.

"Did you forget, Mr. president that this was a closed session or did you simply fail to read the agenda sent to your office yesterday?" Lin asked.

"No, I read it, but since this issue is so big, I thought the people ought to know what developments have been made," Raiko replies.

Lin took a stance and stomped her foot and pushed the ground beneath the reporters back out the door and slammed the door with her earthbending and turned back to Raiko.

"We don't know exactly who in this city is with or against us, if any and everyone knows what we have and don't have, it leaves us vulnerable. If you have an ounce of care about the safety of the city you're charged to lead, you'll understand why this needs to be a closed session." Lin explained taking a deep breath. Raiko's eyes narrowed and Lin sought out his heartbeat. He was angry. He and Ranok both, but she figured for different reasons. She continued her report by explaining to them the time conundrum she learned about from her mother in the swamp as a possible explanation for how there could be multiple avatars. Finally, they could all leave.

"Lin, I just- wanted to warn you about Raiko. He very much likes going to the press and..." Tenzin began to say, jogging lightly to keep up with Lin's rather brusque walk.

"I think I'm going to have to investigate his background a little further." Lin replied ignoring him slightly.

"I don't want to see you get hurt. His and Ranok's influence has been growing and..."

"And what? If they want to fire me, and let this city go to shit, fine. We have bigger problems in the world right now." Lin replied. "Hell, not having to report to them would be so _liberating_!"

Tenzin sighed and grabbed Lin's shoulders, pulling her into an embrace, effectively silencing and calming her body instantly. Lin took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank you," she said as Tenzin relinquished his embrace.

While Tenzin got to go home, Lin still had a lot of work at the station.

* * *

"Chief! Tenzin!" Bolin yelled nearly sprinting off the gondola towards the main house on Air Temple Mountain.

"A letter! From the Northern Water Tribe!" He yelled handing it to Tenzin.

 _Bolin,_

 _I am coming._  
 _Your Angry Should-Be-Wife_

 _Chieftain Eska of the Northern Water Tribe_

"What? Why would my cousin come here?" Korra asked curiously.

Just then Eska appeared behind Bolin as he shrieked in fear like a lady.

"Hello my feeble turtleduck." Eska said eliciting a nervous gulp from Bolin.

"Hey! Watch it sister! He's my boyfriend!" Opal growled standing up defensively.

"He was going to be my husband until Korra stole him from the altar!" Eska said pulling air out of nowhere, attacking Opal.

"Stop it you two!" Suyin scolded erecting a protective wall in front of her daughter. "Chief Eska, just tell us why you are here!"

Eska's own face remained unchanged as she turned to the master metalbender and Interim Earth Premier "Desna's missing and I need to help me find him."

"Can you tell us any other circumstances surrounding his disappearance." Lin asked from her seat beside Tenzin.

"One minute, he was asleep in the tub and the next minute he was gone. I have personally scoured the entire Northern Water Tribe, the tundra, the pole, and the spirit world with my guards. I figured he may must been taken to one of your kingdoms for this... new avatar shit," Eska explained.

"The energy bending triad is getting bolder, abducting a world leader, like that." Lin commented.

"Then we are all in far greater danger than we could ever imagine," Tenzin realized.

* * *

 **Okay, this chapter was fun to write! I hope at least somebody is enjoying this as much as I am writing it.**


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